(l^'-f 



THE SCARECROW 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON ■ CHICAGO 
ATLANTA ■ SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



THE SCARECROW 



OR 



THE GLASS OF TRUTH 
A Tragedy of the Ludicrous 

BY 

PERCY MACKAYE 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1908 

All rights restrved 



lUBHARYofCONafiESS.f 
1 Two Copies HetiJivjj 

! f£Bl9 1908 

OoHiii««H E.nir)( 



<5USSl> XXc. No. D i^ -, , 

COPY B. I -J •';;, -i ^ ^ 



,-:>S 



Copyright, 1908, 
By the M ACM ill an COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 1908. 



This play has been copyrighted and published simultaneously in the United 
States and Great Britain. All acting rights, both professional and amateur, are 
reserved in the United States, Great Britain, and countries of the Copyright Union, 
by Percy MacKaye. Performances forbidden and right of representation reserved. 
Application for the right of performing this piece must be made to The Macmillan 
Company. Any piracy or infringement Vk'ill be prosecuted in accordance with the 
penalties provided by the United States Statutes: — 

" Sec. 4966. — Any person publicly performing or representing any dramatic or 
musical composition, for which copyright has been obtained, without the consent of 
the proprietor of the said dramatic or musical composition, or his heirs or assigns, 
shall be liable for damages therefor, such damages in all cases to be assessed at such 
sum, not less than one hundred dollars for the first and fifty dollars for every subse- 
quent performance, as to the Court shall appear to be just. If the unlawful perform- 
ance and representation be wilful and for profit, such person or persons shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction be imprisoned for a period not exceed- 
ing one year," U. S. Revised Statutes, Title 60, Chap. 3. 



NorS»Dotj ^reag 

J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



^0 

MY MOTHER 

IN MEMORY OF AUSPICIOUS 

" COUNTINGS OF THE CROWS " 

BY OLD NEW ENGLAND CORN-FIELDS 



PREFACE 

But for a fantasy of Nathaniel Hawthorne, this 
play, of course, would never have been written. In 
" Mosses from an Old Manse," the Moralized Legend 
" Feathertop " relates, in some twenty pages of its 
author's inimitable style, how Mother Rigby, a re- 
puted witch of old New England days, 'converted a 
corn-patch scarecrow into the semblance of a fine 
gentleman of the period; how she despatched this 
semblance to " play its part in the great world, where 
not one man in a hundred, she affirmed, was gifted 
with more real substance than itself " ; how there the 
scarecrow, while paying court to pretty Polly Gookin, 
the rosy, simpering daughter of Justice Gookin, dis- 
covered its own image in a looking-glass, returned 
to Mother Rigby 's cottage, and dissolved into its 
original elements. 

My indebtedness, therefore, to this source, in 
undertaking the present play, goes without saying. 
Yet it would not be true, either to Hawthorne's work 
or my own, to classify "The Scarecrow" as a drama- 
tization of " Feathertop." Were it intended to be 
such, the many radical departures from the concep- 
tion and the treatment of Hawthorne which are evi- 
dent in the present work would have to be regarded 
as so many unwarrantable liberties taken with its 



X PREFACE 

original material ; the function of the play itself 
would, in such case, become purely formal, — trans- 
lative of a narrative to its appropriate dramatic form, 
— and as such, however interesting and commendable 
an effort, would have lost all raison d'etre for the 
writer. 

But such, I may say, has not been my intention. 
My aim has been quite otherwise. Starting with the 
same basic theme, I have sought to elaborate it, by 
my own treatment, to a different and more inclusive 
issue. 

Without particularizing here the full substance of 
Hawthorne's consummate sketch, which is available 
to every reader, the divergence I refer to may be 
summed up briefly. 

The scarecrow Feathertop of Hawthorne is the 
imaginative epitome or symbol of human charlatanism, 
with special emphasis upon the coxcombry of fashion- 
able society. In his essential superficiality he is 
characterized as a fop, " strangely self-satisfied," with 
"nobby little nose thrust into the air." "And many 
a fine gentleman," says Mother Rigby, " has a pump- 
kin-head as well as my scarecrow." His hollow 
semblance is the shallowness of a " well-digested 
conventionalism, which had incorporated itself thor- 
oughly with his substance and transformed him into 
a work of art." " But the clothes in this case were 
to be the making of the man," and so Mother Rigby, 
after fitting him out in a suit of embroidered finery, 
endows him as a finishing touch " with a great deal 
of brass, which she appHed to his forehead, thus 



PREFACE xi 

making it yellower than before. ' With that brass 
alone,' quoth she, * thou canst pay thy way all over 
the earth.' " 

Similarly, the other characters are sketched by 
Hawthorne in accord with this general conception. 
Pretty Polly Gookin, "tossing her head and manag- 
ing her fan" before the mirror, views therein "an 
unsubstantial little maid that reflected every gesture 
and did all the foolish things that Polly did, but 
without making her ashamed of them. In short, it 
was the fault of pretty Polly's ability, rather than her 
will, if she failed to be as complete an artifice as 
the illustrious Feathertop himself." 

Thus the Mot'alised Legend rQVQzXs, itself as a satire 
upon a restricted artificial phase of society. As such, 
it runs its brief course, with all the poetic charm and 
fanciful suggestiveness of our great New Englander's 
prose style, to its appropriate dejtoiiement, — the dis- 
integration of its hero. 

" ' My poor, dear, pretty Feathertop,' quoth Mother 
Rigby, with a rueful glance at the reUcs of her ill- 
fated contrivance, 'there are thousands upon thou- 
sands of coxcombs and charlatans in the world made 
up of just such a jumble of worn-out, forgotten, and 
good-for-nothing trash as he was, yet they live in 
fair repute and never see themselves for what they 
are. And why should my poor puppet be the only 
one to know himself and perish for it .'' ' " 

Coxcombry and charlatanism, then, are the butt 
of Plawthorne's satire in his Legend. The nature 
of his theme, however, is susceptible of an application 



xii PREFACE 

far less restricted, a development far more universal, 
than such satire. This wider issue once or twice in 
his sketch he seems to have touched upon, only 
immediately to ignore again. Thus, in the very last 
paragraph, Mother Rigby exclaims : " Poor Feather- 
top ! I could easily give him another chance and send 
him forth again to-morrow. But no ! His feelings 
are too tender — Ids sensibilities too deepy 

In these words, spoken in irony, Hawthorne ends 
his narrative with an undeveloped aspect of his 
theme, which constitutes the starting-point of the con- 
ception of my play : the aspect, namely, of the essen- 
tial tragedy of tJie ludicrous ; an aspect which, in 
its development, inevitably predicates for my play 
a divergent treatment and a different conclusion. 
The element of human sympathy is here substituted 
for that of irony, as criterion of the commxon absurdity 
of mankind. 

The scarecrow Feathertop is ridiculous, as the 
emblem of a superficial fop ; the scarecrow Ravens- 
bane is pitiful, as the emblem of human bathos. 

Compared with our own ideas of human perfection, 
what human rubbish we are ! Of what incongruous 
elements are we constructed by time and inheritance 
wherewith to realize the reasonableness, the power, 
the altruism, of our dreams ! What absurdity is our 
highest consummation ! Yet the sense of our com- 
mon deficiency is, after all, our salvation. There is 
one reality which is a basic hope for the realization 
of those dreams. This sense is human sympathy, 
which is, it would seem, a more searching critic of 



PREFACE xiii 

human frailty than satire. It is the growth of this 
sense which dowers with dignity and reahty the 
hollowest and most ludicrous of mankind, and be- 
comes in such a fundamental grace of character. 

In a recent critical interpretation of Cervantes' 
great work, Professor G. E. Woodberry writes : " A 
madman has no character ; but it is the character of 
Don Quixote that at last draws the knight out of all 
his degradations and makes him triumph in the heart 
of the reader." And he continues: " Modern dismay 
begins in the thought that here is not the abnormality 
of an individual, but the madness of the soul in its 
own nature." 

If for " madness " in this quotation I may be per- 
mitted to substitute liidicroitsness (or hicongniity\ 
a more felicitous expression of my meaning, as 
applied to Ravensbane in this play, would be diffi- 
cult to devise. 

From what has been said, it will, I trust, be the 
more clearly apparent why " The Scarecrow " cannot 
with any appropriateness be deemed a dramatization 
of " Feathertop," and why its manifold divergencies 
from the latter in treatment and motive cannot with 
any just significance be considered as liberties taken 
with an original source. Dickon, for example, whose 
name in the Legend is but a momentary invocation 
in the mouth of Mother Rigby, becomes in my play 
not merely the characterized visible associate of 
Goody Rickby ("Blacksmith Bess"), but the neces- 
sary foil of sceptical irony to the human growth of 
the scarecrow. So, too, for reasons of the play's 



xiv PREFACE 

different intent, Goody Rickby herself is differen- 
tiated from Mother Rigby; and Rachel Merton has 
no motive, of character or artistic design, in common 
with pretty, affected Polly Gookin. 

My indebtedness to the New England master in 
literature is, needless to say, gratefully acknow- 
ledged ; but it is fitting, I think, to distinguish clearly 
between the aim and the scope of " Feathertop " and 
that of the play in hand, as much in deference to 
the work of Hawthorne as in comprehension of the 
spirit of my own. 

P. M-K. 

Cornish, New Hampshire, 
December, 1907. 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 

JUSTICE GILEAD MERTON. 

GOODY RICKEY (" Blacksinith Bess ") . 

LORD RAVENSBANE ( " Marquis of Oxford, Baron of Wit- 
tefiberg, Elector of Worms, and Count of Cordova''"'), their 
hypothetical son . 

DICKON, a Yankee improvisation of the Prince of Darkness. 

RACHEL MERTON, niece of the fustice. 

MISTRESS CYNTHIA MY.RTON, sister of the fiistice. 

RICHARD TALBOT, Esquire, betrothed to Rachel. 

SIR CHARLES REDDINGTON, Lieutenant Governor. 

MISTRESS REDDINGTON),. ^ ,, 

^ ms daughters. 

AMELIA REDDINGTON J 

CAPTAIN BUGBY, the Governor's Secretary. 

MINISTER DODGE. 

MISTRESS DODGE, his wife. 

REV. MASTER RAND, of Harvard College. 

REV. MASTER TODD, of Harvard College. 

MICAH, a servant of the ftistice. 



Time. — Late Seventeenth Centicry. 
Place. — A town in Massachusetts. 



ACT I 



ACT I 

The interior of a blacksmith shop. Right centre, a forge. 
Left, a loft, from which are hanging dried cornstalks, 
hay, and the yelloiv ears of cattle-corn. Back centre, 
a wide doicble door, closed when the curtain rises. 
Through this door — wheti later it is opened — is visible 
a New Englaiid landscape in the late springtime : a 
distant wood; stone walls, high elms, a well-sweep ; and, 
in the ?iear foreground, a ploughed field, from which the 
green shoots of early corn a7-e fust appearing. The 
blackened walls of the shop are covered with a miscel- 
la?ieous collection of old iron, horseshoes, cart wheels, 
etc., the usual appurtenances of a smithy. In the right- 
hand corner, however, is an array of things quite out of 
keeping with the shop proper: musical instruments, 
puppets, tall clocks, and fantastical fiink. Conspicuous 
amongst these articles is a large standing mirror, 
framed grotesquely in old gold and curtained by a dull 
stuff, embroidered with peaked caps and crescent moons. 

fust before the scene opens, a hammer is heard ringing 
briskly upon steel. As the curtain rises there is dis- 
covered, standing at the anvil in the flickering light of 
a bright flame from the fotge, a woman — powerful, 
ruddy, proud with a certain masteiful beauty, white- 
haired {as though prematurely), bare-armed to the elbows, 
clad in a dark skirt {above her ankles'), a loose blouse, 
open at the throat ; a leathern apron and a workman^ s 
cap. The woman is Goody Rickby. On the a?ivil 
she is shaping a piece of iron. Beside her stands a 
3 



THE SCARECROW 



framework of iron formed like the ribs and backbone 
of a 7nan. For a few moments she continues to ply her 
hammer, amid a shower of sparks, till suddenly the 
flatne on the forge dies down. 



GOODY RICKEY 

Dickon ! More flame. 

A VOICE 

\_Above her.'] 
Yea, Goody. 

\The flame in the forge spurts up high and suddenly.'] 
GOODY RICKEY 

Nay, not so fierce. 

THE VOICE 
\_At her side.'] 
Voire pardon, madanie. 

\The flame subsides.] 
Is that better } 

GOODY RICKEY 
That will do. 

\_With her to?igs, she thrusts the iron into the flattie ; it turns 
white-hot.] 

Quick work ; nothing like brimstone for the smithy 
trade. 

\At the anvil, she begins to iveld the iron rib on to the 
framework.] 

There, my beauty ! We'll make a stout set of ribs 
for you. I'll see to it this year that I have a scare- 



THE SCARECROW 5 

crow can outstand all the nor'easters that blow. I've 
no notion to lose my corn-crop this summer. 

[ Outside, the faint cawings of crows are heard. Putting 
down her tongs and hammer, Goody Rickby strides to 
the double door, atid flinging it wide open, lets in the 
gray light of dawn. She looks out over the fields and 
shakes her fist.'\ 

So ye're up before me and the sun, are ye? 

\_Squinting against the light.'] 

There's one ! Nay, two. Aha ! 

One for sorrow, 
Two for mirth — 

Good ! This time we'll have the laugh on our side. 

\_She returns to the forge, where again the fire has died out."] 

Dickon ! Fire ! Come, come, where be thy wits ? 

THE VOICE 
\_Sleepily from the forge.] 
'Tis early, dame. 

GOODY RICKBY 

The more need — 

[Takes up her tongs.] 

THE VOICE 

\_Sereams.] 
Ow! 

GOODY RICKBY 

Ha ! Have I got thee ? 



6" THE SCARECROW 

\_From the blackness of the forge she pulls out with her 
tongs, by the right ear, the figure of a devil, horned and 
tailed. In general aspect, though he resembles a medice- 
val familiar demon, yet the suggestions of a goatish 
beard, a shrewdly humorous smile, and (when he 
speaks') the slightest of nasal drawls, remotely simulate 
a species of Yankee rustic. 

Goody Rickby substitutes her fingers for the tongs7\ 

Now, Dickon ! 

DICKON 
Dens ! I haven't been nabbed like that since St. 
Dunstan tweaked my nose. Well, sweet Goody ? 

GOODY RICKBY 

The bellows ! 

DICKON 
\_Going slowly to the forge. "^ 
Why, 'tis hardly dawn yet. Honest folk^ are still 
abed. It makes a long day. 

GOODY RICKBY 

[ Working, while Dickon plies the bellows?^ 

Aye, for your black pets, the crows, to work in. 

That's why I'm at it early. You heard 'em. We 

must have this scarecrow of ours out in the field at 

his post before sunrise. 

\_Finishing.'\ 
So, there ! Now, Dickon boy, I want that you 
should — 

DICKON 
[ Whipping out a note-book and writing.'] 
Wait! Another one! "I want that you should — " 



THE SCARECROW 7 

GOODY RICKEY 

What's that you're writing? 

DICKON 

The phrase, Goody clear ; the construction. Your 
New England dialect is hard for a poor cosmopolitan 
devil. What with nt clauses in English and Latin- 
ized subjunctives — You want that I should — 

Well? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Make a masterpiece. I've made the frame strong, 

so as to stand the weather; yo7i must make the body 

lifelike so as to fool the crows. Last year I stuck up 

a poor sham and after a day they saw through it. 

This time, we must make 'em think it's a real human 

crittur. 

DICKON 

To fool the philosophers is my specialty, but the 
crows — hm ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

Pooh ! That staggers thee ! 

DICKON 
Madame Rickby, prod not the quick of my genius. 
I am Phidias, I am Raphael, I am the Lord God ! — 
You shall see — 

\I)emands with a gesture^ 
Yonder broom-stick. 

GOODY RICKEY 
\Fetching him a broom from the corner. '\ 
Good boy ! 



8 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

\Straddling the handle.'\ 

Haha ! gee up ! my Salem mare. 

\Then, pseudo-philosophically^ 

A broomstick — that's for imagination ! 

\_He begins to construct the scarecrow, while Goody Richby, 
assisting, brings the constructive parts from various 
nooks and corners.'} 

We are all pretty artists, to be sure, Bessie. Phid- 
ias, he sculptures the gods ; Raphael, he paints the 
angels ; the Lord God, he creates Adam ; and Dickon 
— fetch me the poker — aha ! Dickon ! What doth 
Dickon ? He nullifies 'em all ; he endows the Scare- 
crow ! — A poker : here's his conscience. There's two 
fine legs to walk on, — imagination and conscience. 
Yonder flails now ! The ideal — the bean- ideal, 
dame — that's what we artists seek. The apotheosis 
of scarecrows ! And pray, what's a scarecrow } 
Why, the antithesis of Adam. — " Let there be 
candles ! " quoth the Lord God, sitting in the dark. 
" Let there be candle-extinguishers," saith Dickon. 
" I am made in the image of my maker," quoth 
Adam. " Look at yourself in the glass," saith Good- 
man Scarecrow. 

\Taking two implements from Goody Rickby.'\ 

Fine ! fine ! here are flails — one for wit, t'other 
for satire. Sapristi ! with two such arms, my lad, 
how thou wilt work thy way in the world ! 



THE SCARECROW 



GOODY RICKEY 



You talk as if you were making a real mortal, 
Dickon. 

DICKON 

To fool a crow, Goody, I must fashion a crittur 
that will first deceive a man. 

GOODY RICKEY 

He'll scarce do that without a head. 

[^Pointing to the loft.'] 

What think ye of yonder Jack-o'-lantern ? 'Twas 
made last Hallowe'en, 

DICKON 

Rare, my Psyche ! We shall collaborate. Here ! 

\_Running up the ladder, he tosses down a yellow hollowed 
pumpkin to Goody Rickby, who catches it. Then 
rummaging forth an armful of cornstalks, ears, tasseh, 
dried squashes, gourds, beets, etc., he descends and 
throws them in a heap on the floor.] 

Whist! the anatomy. 

GOODY RICKBY 
\_Placing the pumpkin o?i the shoulders.] 

Look! 

DICKON 

O Johannes Baptista ! What wouldst thou have 
given for such a head ! I helped Salome to cut his 
off, dame, and it looked not half so appetizing on her 
charger. Tut! Copernicus wore once such a pump- 



10 THE SCARECROW 

kin, but it is rotten. Look at his golden smile ! 
Hail, Phoebus Apollo ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

'Tis the finest scarecrow in town. 

DICKON 

Nay, poor soul, 'tis but a skeleton yet. He must 
have a man's heart in him. 

\_Picking a big red beet from among the cornstalks, he places 
it under the left side of the ribsr^ 

Hush ! Dost thou hear it beat ? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Thou merry rogue! 

DICKON 

Now for the lungs of him. 

\_Snatching a small pair of bellows from a peg on the wall J^ 

That's for eloquence ! He'll preach the black knaves 
a sermon on theft. And now — 

\^Here, with Goody Rickby's help, he stuffs the framework 
with the gourds, corn, etc., from the loft, weaving the 
husks about the legs and arms.'] 

here goes for digestion and inherited instincts ! More 
corn, Goody. Now he'll fight for his 'own flesh and 
blood ! 

GOODY RICKEY 
[^Lai/ghing.'] 
Dickon, I am proud of thee. 



THE SCARECROW II 

DICKON 

Wait till you see his peruke. 

\_Seizing a feather duster made of crow's feathers. '\ 

Void ! Scalps of the enemy ! 

\_Pulling them apart, he arranges the feathers on the pump- 
kin, like a gentleman'' s wig.^ 

A rare conqueror ! 

GOODY RICKEY 
Oh, you beauty ! 

DICKON 

And now a bit of comfort for dark days and stormy 
nights. 

\_Taking a piece of corn-cob with the kernels on it, Dickon 
makes a pipe, which he puts into the scarecrow's 
mouth. ~\ 

So ! There, Goody ! I tell thee, with yonder brand- 
new coat and breeches of mine — those there in my 
cupboard ! — we'll make him a lad to be proud of. 

\_Taking the clothes, which Goody Rickby brings — a pair of 
fine scat-let breeches and a gold-embroidered coat with 
ruffles of lace — he puts them upon the scarecro70. Then, 
eying it like a comioisseur, makes a few finishing 
touches^ 

Why, dame, he'll be a son to thee. 

GOODY RICKBY 
A son } Ay, if I had but a son ! 



12 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

Why, here you have him, 

\To the scarecrow. '\ 

Thou wilt scare the crows off thy mother's corn- 
field — won't my pretty? And send 'em all over 
t'other side the wall — to her dear neighbour's, the 
Justice Gilead Merton's. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Justice Merton! Nay, if they'd only peck his 
eyes out, instead of his corn. 

DICKON 
[ Grinning.~\ 

Yet the Justice was a dear friend of " Blacksmith 
Bess." 

GOODY RICKEY 

Ay, " Blacksmith Bess ! " If I hadn't had a good 
stout arm when he cast me off with the babe, I might 
have starved for all his worship cared. 

DICKON 

True, Bessie ; 'twas a scurvy trick he played on 
thee — and on me, that took such pains to bring you 
together — to steal a young maid's heart -.— 

GOODY RICKEY 

And then toss it away like a bad penny to the gut- 
ter ! And the child — to die ! 

\_Lifting her hammer in rage.'] 



THE SCARECROW 1 3 

Ha ! if I could get the worshipful Justice Gilead into 
my power again — 

\Dr-ops the hammer sullenly on the anvil.~\ 

But no ! I shall beat my life away on this anvil, 
whilst my justice clinks his gold, and drinks his port 
to a fat old age. Justice ! Ha — justice of God ! 

DICKON 

Whist, dame ! Talk of angels and hear the rustle 

of their relatives. 

GOODY RICKEY 

\_Turnvig, watches outside a girl's figure approaching.'] 

His niece — Rachel Merton! What can she want 
so early .? Nay, I mind me ; 'tis the mirror. She's 
a maid after our own hearts, boy, — no Sabbath-go-to- 
meeting airs about her ! She hath read the books of 
the magi from cover to cover, and paid me good 
guineas for 'em, though her uncle knows naught on't. 
Besides, she's in love, Dickon. 

DICKON 
\_Indicating the scarecrow^ 
Ah .'' With him ? Is it a rendezvous? 

GOODY RICKEY 
\_With a laugh.'\ 
Pff ! Begone ! 

DICKON 
[^Shakes his finger at the scarecro7a.] 
Thou naughty rogue ! 



14 THE SCARECROW 

\_Then, still smiling slyly, with his head placed confidentially 
next to the scarecrow' s ear, as if whispering, and with 
his hand pointing to the 7naiden outside, Dickon fades 
away into air. Rachel enters, nervous and hesitant. 
Goody Rickby makes her a courtesy, which she acknow- 
ledges by a nod, half absent-minded.'\ 

GOODY RICKBY 

Mistress Rachel Merton — so early ! I hope your 
uncle, our worshipful Justice, is not ill ? 

RACHEL 
No, my uncle is quite well. The early morning 
suits me best for a walk. You are — quite alone ? 

GOODY RICKBY 

Quite alone, mistress. [^Bitterly.'] Oh, folks don't 
call on Goody Rickby — except on business. 

RACHEL 
[^Absently, looking round in the dim shop.'] 
Yes — you must be busy. Is it — is it here .-' 

GOODY RICKBY 

You mean the — 

RACHEL 

\_Starting back, with a cry."] 
Ah ! who's that ? 

GOODY RICKBY 
[ Chuckling.'] 
Fear not, mistress ; 'tis nothing but a scarecrow. 



THE SCARECROW 1 5 

I'm going to put him in my corn-field yonder. The 
crows are so pesky this year. 

RACHEL 
\^Draws her skirts away with a shiver.'] 
How loathsome! 

GOODY RICKEY 

[ Vastly pleased.] 
He'll do ! 

RACHEL 

Ah, here ! — This is the mirror } 

GOODY RICKEY 

Yea, mistress, and a wonderful glass it is, as I told 
you. I wouldn't sell it to most comers, but seeing 
how you and Master Talbot — 

RACHEL 

Yes ; that will do. 

GOODY RICKEY 

You see, if the town folks guessed what it was, 
well — You've heard tell of the gibbets on Salem 
hill .'' There's not many in New England like you. 
Mistress Rachel. You know enough to approve 
some miracles — outside the Scriptures. 

RACHEL 

You are quite sure the glass will do all you say ? 
It — never fails .'' 



1 6 THE SCARECROW 

GOODY RICKEY 

Ay, now, mistress, how could it ? 'Tis the glass 
of truth — [insinuatingly'] the glass of true lovers. 
It shows folks just as they are ; no shams, no var- 
nish. If your sweetheart be false, the glass will re- 
veal it. If a wolf should dress himself in a white 
sheep's wool, this glass would reflect the black beast 
inside it. 

RACHEL 

But what of the sins of the soul. Goody ? Vanity, 
hypocrisy, and — and inconstancy ? Will it surely 
reveal them ? 

GOODY RICKEY 

I have told you, my young lady. If it doth not as 
I say, bring it back and get your money again. Trust 
me, sweeting, 'tis your only mouse-trap for a man. 
Why, an old dame hath eyes in her heart yet. If 
your lover be false, this glass shall pluck his fine 
feathers ! 

RACHEL 

[ With aloofness.] 

'Tis no question of that. I wish the glass to — to 
amuse me. 

GOODY RICKEY 
[Lazighing.] 

Why, then, it shall amuse you. Try it on some of 
your neighbours. 

RACHEL 

You ask a large price for it. 



THE SCARECROW 1 7 

GOODY RICKEY 
\_Shrugs^ 
I run risks. Besides, where will you get another ? 

RACHEL 

That is true. Here, I will buy it. That is the 
sum you mentioned, I believe ? 

\_She hands a purse to Goody Rickby, who opens it atid 
counts over some coi7is.~\ 

GOODY RICKEY 

Let see; let see. 

RACHEL 

Well.? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Good : 'tis good. Folks call me a witch, mistress. 
Well — harkee — a witch's word is as good as a 
justice's gold. The glass is yours — with my bless- 
ing. 

RACHEL 

spare yourself that, dame. But the glass : how 
ami to get it ? How will you send it to me — 
quietly ? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Trust me for that. I've a willing lad that helps 
me with such errands ; a neighbour o' mine. 

Ebenezer ! 

RACHEL 

\^Startled.'\ 
What ! is he here 'i 



1 8 THE SCARECROW 



GOODY RICKEY 



In the hay-loft. The boy's an orphan; he sleeps 
there o' times. Ebenezer! 

\_A raiv, dishevelled country boy appears in the loft, slides 
down the ladder, and shuffles up sleepily. 1 

THE BOY 

Evenin'. 

RACHEL 
\_D rawing Goody Rickby aside. '\ 

You understand; I desire no comment about this 
purchase. 

GOODY RICKBY 

Nor I, mistress, be sure. 

RACHEL 

Ishe — .? 

GOODY RICKBY 
\Tapping her forehead significantly.'] 
Trust his wits who hath no wit ; he's mum. 

RACHEL 

Oh! 

THE BOY 

[ Gaping.'] 
Job? 

GOODY RICKBY 

Yea, rumple-head ! His job this morning is to 
bear yonder glass to the house of Justice Merton — 
the big one on the hill ; to the side door. Mind, no 
gabbing. Doth he catch .-' 



THE SCARECROW 1 9 

THE BOY 

\Nodding and grinntng.'\ 

'E swallows. 

RACHEL 

But is the boy strong enough ? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Him? 

\Pointing to the anvil.'\ 
Ebenezer ! 

[ The boy spits on his palms, takes hold of the anvil, lifts it, 
drops it again, sits on it, and grins at the door, just as 
Richard Talbot appears the7'e,from outside. '\ 

RACHEL 

Gracious ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

Trust him. He'll carry the glass for you. 

RACHEL 

I will return home at once, then. Let him go 
quietly to the side door, and wait for me. 
Good morning. 

\Turning, she cotifronts Richard^ 

RICHARD 
Good morning. 

RACHEL 

Richard ! — Squire Talbot, you — you are abroad 
early. 



20 THE SCARECROW 

RICHARD 

As early as Mistress Rachel. Is it pardonable? 
I caught sight of you walking in this direction, so I 
thought it wise to follow, lest — 

\_Looks hard at Goody Rtckby.'] 

RACHEL 

Very kind. Thanks. I've done my errand. 
Well ; we can return together. 

ITo Goody Rickby:\ 

You will make sure .that I receive the — the article. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Trust me, mistress. 

[ Courtesyiftg.'] 
Squire Talbot ! the honour, sir ! 

RICHARD 

\_Bluntiy, looking from one to the other."] 

What article ? 

\^Rachel ignores the question and starts to pass out. Rich- 
ard frowns at Goody Rickby, who stammers^ 

GOODY RICKBY 

Begging your pardon, sir } 



THE SCARECROW 21 

RICHARD 

What article ? I said. 

\_After a short, embarrassed pause : more sternly^ 

Well? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Oh, the article ! Yonder old glass, to be sure, sir. 
A quaint piece, your honour, 

RICHARD 

Rachel, you haven't come here at sunrise to buy 
— that thing } 

RACHEL 

Verily, "that thing" and at sunrise. A pretty 
time for a pretty purchase. Are you coming ? 

RICHARD 
[/« a low voice.~\ 

More witchcraft nonsense .'' Do you realize this is 
serious ? 

RACHEL 

Oh, of course. You know I am desperately mysti- 
cal, so pray let us not discuss it. Good-by. 

RICHARD 

Rachel, just a moment. If you want a mirror, you 
shall have the prettiest one in New England. Or I 
will import you one from London. Only — I beg of 
you — don't buy stolen goods. 



22 THE SCARECROW 

GOODY RICKEY 

Stolen goods ? 

RACHEL 
\_Aside to RichardT^ 
Don't! don't! 

RICHARD 

At least, articles under suspicion. 

\_To Goody Rickby.'] 

Can you account for this mirror — how you came 
by it ? 

GOODY RICKEY 

I'll show ye ! I'll show ye ! Stolen — ha ! 

RICHARD 

Come, old swindler, keep your mirror, and give 
this lady back her money. 

GOODY RICKEY 

I'll damn ye both, I will ! — Stolen I 

RACHEL 
\_Implonngfy.'] 
Will you come ? 

RICHARD 

Look you, old Rickby ; this is not the first time. 
Charm all the broomsticks in town, if you like ; 
bewitch all the tables and saucepans and mirrors you 
please ; but gull no more money out of young girls. 



THE SCARECROW 23 

Mind you ! We're not so enterprising in this town 
as at Salem ; but — it may come to it ! So look 
sharp ! I'm not bHnd to what's going on here. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Not bUnd, Master Puritan ? Oho ! You can see 
through all my counterfeits, can ye ? So ! you would 
scrape all the wonder out'n the world, as I've scraped 
all the meat out'n my punkin-head yonder ! Aha ! 
wait and see ! Afore sundown, I'll send ye a nut to 
crack, shall make your orthodox jaws ache. Your 
servant. Master Deuteronomy ! 

RICHARD 

\_To Rachel, who has seized his arm.'] 

We'll go. 

\_Exeunt Richard and Rachel.] 

GOODY RICKEY 
[ Calls shrilly after them.] 

Trot away, pretty team ; toss your heads. I'll un- 
hitch ye and take off your blinders. 

THE SLOUCHING BOY 

\_Capenng and grimacing in front of the mirror, shrieks with 
laughter.] 
Ohoho ! 



24 THE SCARECROW 

GOODY RICKEY 
\_Re turning, savagely.'] 

Yes, yes, my fine lover ! I'll pay thee for " stolen 
goods" — I'll pay thee. 

[Screams.] 
Dickon ! Stop laughing. 

THE BOY 

O Lord ! O Lord ! 

GOODY RICKEY 
What tickles thy mirth now ? 

THE BOY 

For to think as the soul of an orphan innocent, 
what lives in a hay-loft, should wear horns. 

[^On looking into the mirror, the spectator perceives therein 
that the reflection of the slouching boy is the horned- 
demon figure of Dickon, who performs the satne antics 
in pantomime within the glass as the boy does without.] 

GOODY RICKEY 

Yea ; 'tis a wise devil that knows his own face in 
the glass. But hark now ! Thou must find me a rival 
for this cock-squire, — dost hear } A rival, that shall 
steal away the heart of his Mistress Rachel. 

DICKON 

And take her to church .-' 



THE SCARECROW 2$ 

GOODY RICKEY 

To church or to Hell. All's one. 
DICKON 

A rival ! 

\^Poiniing at the glass. '\ 

How would Jie serve — in there ? Dear Ebenezer ! 
Fancy the deacons in the vestry, Goody, and her 
uncle, the Justice, when they saw him escorting the 
bride to the altar, with his tail round her waist ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

Tut, tut ! Think it over in earnest, and meantime 
take her the glass. Wait, we'd best fold it up small, 
so as not to attract notice on the road. 

\_Dickon, who has already drawn the curtaifis over the glass, 
grasps one side of the large frame. Goody Rickby the 
other. '\ 

Now! 

\_Pushing their shoulders against the tivo sides, the frame 
disappears and Dickon holds in his hatid a mirror 
about a foot square, of the sayne design. "^ 

So ! Be off ! And mind, a rival for Richard ! 

DICKON 

For Richard a rival, 
Dear Goody Rickby 
Wants Dickon's connival : 
Lord ! What can the trick be "i 



26 THE SCARECROW 

\To the scarecrow.'] 
By-by, Sonny ; take care of thy mother. 

\Dickon slouches out with the glass, whistling!] 

GOODY RICKEY 

Motlier ! Yea, if only I had a son — the Jus- 
tice Merton's and mine ! If the brat had but lived 
now to remind him of those merry days, which 
he has forgotten. Zooks, wouldn't I put a spoke 
in his wheel ! But no such luck for me ! No such 
luck ! 

\_As she goes to the forge, the stout figure of a man appears in 
the doorway behind her. Under one arm he carries a 
large book, in the other hand a gold-headed cane. He 
hesitates, embarrassed.] 

THE MAN 
Permit me, Madam. 

GOODY RICKEY 
[ Turning.] 
Ah, him ! — Justice Merton ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Removing his hat, steps over the sill, and lays his great book 
on the table ; then with a supercilious look, he puts his 
hat firmly on again.] 
Permit me, dame. 



THE SCARECROW 2/ 

GOODY RICKEY 



You! 



[ With confused, affected hauteur, the Justice shifts from foot 
to foot, flourishing his cane. As he speaks, Goody 
Rickby, with a shrewd, painful expression, draws 
slowly backward toward the door left, which opens into 
an inner room. Reaching it, she opens it part tvay, 
stands faci Jig him, and listens^ 

JUSTICE MERTON 

I have had the honour — permit me — to entertain 
suspicions ; to rise early, to follow my niece, to meet 
just now Squire Talbot, an excellent young gentle- 
man of wealth, if not of fashion ; to hear his remarks 
concerning — hem ! — you, dame ! to call here — 
permit me — to express myself and inquire — 

GOODY RICKEY 

Concerning your waistcoat ? 

\_Turning quickly, she snatches an article of apparel which 
hangs on the inner side of the door, and holds it up.~\ 



Woman ! 



JUSTICE MERTON 
[Starting, crimson.^ 



GOODY RICKBY 
You left it behind — the last time. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

I have not the honour to remember ■ 



28 THE SCARECROW 

GOODY RICKEY 

The one I embroidered ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

'Tis a matter — 

GOODY RICKEY 

Of some two and twenty years. 

[^Stretching out the narrow width of the waistcoat.'\ 

Will you try it on now, dearie ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Unconscionable! Un-un-unconscionable witch! 

GOODY RICKEY 

Witchling — thou used to say. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Pah ! pah ! I forget myself. Pride, permit me, 
goeth before a fall. As a magistrate, Rickby, I have 
already borne with you long I The last straw, how- 
ever, breaks the camel's back. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Poor camel ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

You have soiled, you have smirched, the virgin 
reputation of my niece. You have inveigled her 
into notions of witchcraft ; already the neighbours 
are beginning to talk. 'Tis a long lane which hath 
no turning, saith the Lord. Permit me — as a witch, 
thou art judged. Thou shalt hang. 



THE SCARECROW 29 

A VOICE 

[Behind him.'\ 
And me too ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 
[^Turns about and stares^ 
I beg pardon. 

THE VOICE 

\In front of him ^ 
Not at all. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Did — did somebody speak .-• 

THE VOICE 

Don't you recognize my voice } Still and small, 
you know. If you will kindly let me out, we can 
chat. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
[Turning fiercely on Goody RickbyJ] 

These are thy sorceries. But I fear them not. 
The righteous man walketh with God. 

[Going to the book which lies on the table. '\ 

Satan, I ban thee ! I will read from the Holy 
Scriptures ! 

[Unclasping the Bible, he flings open the ponderous covers. 
— Dickon steps forth iti smoke. '\ 

DICKON 
Thanks ; it was stuffy in there. 



30 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 

[ Claspi7ig his hands.'] 
Dickon ! 

DICKON 
\_Moving a step nearer on the table.'] 
Hillo, Gilly ! Hillo, Bess ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Dickon ! No ! No ! 

DICKON 

Do ye mind Auld Lang Syne — the chorus that 

night, Gilly ? 

\_Sings.] 

Gil-ead, Gil-ead, Gil-ead 
Merton, 

He was a silly head, silly head, 
Certain, 

When he forgot to steal a bed- 
Curtain ! 

Encore, now ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

No, no, be merciful! I will not harm her; she 
shall not hang : I swear, I swear it ! 

\_Dickon disappears.] 

I swear — ah! Is he gone? Witchcraft! Witch- 
craft ! I have witnessed it. 'Tis proved on thee, 
slut. I swear it : thou shalt hang, 

\Exit wildly^ 



THE SCARECROW 3 1 

GOODY RICKEY 

Ay, Gilead ! I shall hang on ! Ahaha ! Dickon, 
thou angel ! Ah, Satan ! Satan ! For a son now ! 

DICKON 
\Reappea ring. ] 
Videlicet^ in law — a bastard. N'est ce pas ? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Yea, in law and in justice, I should-a had one now. 
Worse luck that he died. 

DICKON 
One and twenty years ago .-• 

\_Goody Rickby nods.'] 

Good ; he should be of age now. One and twenty — 
a pretty age, too, for a rival. Haha ! — For arrival .-' 

— Marry, he shall arrive, then ; arrive and marry and 
inherit his patrimony — all on his birthday ! Come, 
to work ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

What rant is this .'' 

DICKON 

Yet, Dickon, it pains me to perform such an an- 
achronism. All this" Mediaevalism in Massachusetts ! 

— These old-fashioned flames and alchemic accom- 
paniments, when Fve tried so hard to be a native 
American product ; it jars. But che vjwle ! I'm 
naturally middle-aged. I haven't been really myself, 
let me think, — since 1492 ! 



32 THE SCARECROW 

GOODY RICKEY 

What art thou mooning about ? 

DICKON 
\Still impenetrable r^ 

There was my old friend in Germany, Dr. Johann 
Faustus; he was nigh such a bag of old rubbish when 
I made him over. Ain't it trite ! No, you can't 
teach an old dog like me new tricks. Still, a scare- 
crow ! that's decidedly local color. Come then ; a 
Yankee masterpiece ! 

\Seizing Goody Rickby by the arm, and placing her before the 
scarecrow, he makes a bow and wave of introduction. '\ 

Behold, madam, your son — illegitimate; the fu- 
ture affianced of Mistress Rachel Merton, the heir- 
elect, through matrimony, of Merton House, — Gilead 
Merton second ; Lord Ravensbane ! Your lordship 
— your mother. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Dickon ! Can you do it ? 

DICKON 
I can — try. 

GOODY RICKBY 

You will create him for me .-* — 

[ Wickedly.'] 
and for Gilead ! 

DICKON 
I will — for a kiss. 



Dickon ! 



THE SCARECROW 33 

GOODY RICKEY 
\_About to embrace him.'\ 



DICKON 
\_Dodging her."] 
Later. Now, the waistcoat. 

GOODY RICKEY 
\Handing //.] 

Rare ! rare ! He shall go wooing in't — like his 
father. 

DICKON 

\_Shifting the scarecrow's gold-trimmed coat, slips on the 
embroidered waistcoat and replaces the coat.'\ 

Stand still, Jack ! So, my macaroni. Perfecto ! 
Stay — a walking-stick ! ' 

GOODY RICKEY 

[ Wrenching a spoke out of an old rickety wheel.'] 

Here : the spoke for Gilead. He used to take me 
to drive in the chaise it came out of. 

DICKON 

\_Placing the spoke as a cane, in the scarecrow's sleeve, views 

him with satisf action. '\ 

Sic ! There, Jacky ! Filiiis fit non nascitnr. — Sam 
Hill ! My Latin is stale. " In the beginning, was 
the — gourd ! " Of these thy modest ingredients may 
thy spirit smack ! 



34 THE SCARECROW 

\_Makijig various mystic passes with his hands, Dickoft in- 
tones, nozv deep and solemn, now with fanciful shrill 
rapidity, this incantation .-] 

Flail, flip; 
Broom, sweep ; 

Sic itur ! 
Cornstalk 
And turnip, talk ! 

Turn crittur ! 

Pulse, beet ; 
Gourd, eat ; 

Ave Hellas ! 
Poker and punkin. 
Stir the old junk in : 

Breathe, bellows ! 

Corn-cob, 

And crow's feather, 
End the job : 
Jumble the rest o' the rubbish together ; 
Dovetail and tune 'em. 
E pluribiis lunivi ! 

\The scarecrow remains stock still.'\ 

The devil ! Have I lost the hang of it ? Ah ! 
Hullo ! He's dropped his pipe. What's a dandy 
without his 'baccy ! 

\Restoring the corn-cob pipe to the scarecrow's 7nouth.~\ 

'Tis the life and breath of him. So ; hand me yon 
hazel switch, Goody. 



THE SCARECROW 35 

[ Waving //,] 
Presto ! 

Brighten, coal, 

r the dusk between us ! 
Whiten, soul ! 
Propmqtni Vemts ! 

\_A whiff of sttioke puffs from the scarecrow's pipe^ 

Sic ! Sic ! Jacobus ! 

\_Anotlier whiff. '\ 
Bravo ! 

\The whiffs grow more rapid and the thing trembles^ 

GOODY RICKEY 
Puff ! puff, manny, for thy life ! 

DICKON 

Fiat, fcetiis ! — Huzza ! Noch einmal! Go it ! 

\_Clouds of smoke issue from the pipe, half fill the shop, and 
envelop the creature, who staggers. *\ 

GOODY RICKEY 
See ! See his eyes ! 

* Here the living actor, through a trap, concealed by the smoke, 
will substitute himself for the elegantly clad effigy. His make-up, of 
course, will approximate to the latter, but the grotesque contours of his 
expression gradually, throughout the remainder of the act, become 
refined and sublimated till, at the finale, they are of a lordly and 
distinguished caste. 



36 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 
\_Beckoning with one fijigerJ] 

Veni, fill! Veni ! Take 'ee first step, bainbino ! — 
Toddle ! 

\_The Scarecrow makes a stiff birch forward and falls side- 
wise against the anvil, propped half-reclinifig against 
which he leans rigid, emitting fainter puffs of smoke i?i 
gasps.] 

GOODY RICKEY 
[Screams.] 
Have a care ! He's fallen. 

DICKON 

Well done, Punkin Jack ! Thou shalt be knighted 
for that ! 

[Striking him on the shoulder with the hazel rod.] 
Rise, Lord Ravensbane ! 

[The Scarecrow totters to his feet, and makes a forlorn rec- 
tilinear salutation.] 

GOODY RICKEY 

Look ! He bows. — He flaps his flails at thee. He 
smiles like a tik-doo-loo-roo ! 

DICKON 
[ With a profound reverence, backing away.] 
Will his lordship deign to follow his tutor ? 
[With hitches and jerks, the Scareci'ow follows Dickon.] 



THE SCARECROW 37 

GOODY RICKEY 

O Lord ! Lord ! the style o' the broomstick ! 

DICKON 

\Holding ready a high-backed chair!] 

Will his lordship be seated and rest himself ? 

\_Azvkwardly the Scarecrow half falls into the chair; his 
head sinks sideways, and his pipe falls out. Dickon 
snatches it up instantly and restores it to his mouth.] 

Puff! '?\i^,ptier; 'tis thy life. 

\^77ie Scarecrow puffs again!] 

Is his lordship's tobacco refreshing ? 

GOODY RICKEY 

Look now ! The red colour in his cheeks. The 
beet-juice is pumping, oho ! 

DICKON 

\Offering his arm.] 

Your lordship will deign to receive an audience ? 

\The Scarecrow takes his arm and rises.] 

The Marchioness of Rickby, your lady mother, 
entreats leave to present herself. 



My son 



GOODY RICKEY 
[ Courtesying low.] 



38 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

\_Holding the pipe, and waving the hazel rod."] 

Dicite ! Speak ! 

\_The Scarecrow, blowing out his last mouthful of smoke, 
opens his mouth, gasps, gurgles, and is silentl\ 

In principio erat verbiiin I Accost thy mother ! 

\The Scarecrow, clutching at his side in a struggle for co- 
herence, fixes a pathetic look of pain on Goody Rickby^ 

THE SCARECROW 

Mother ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

[ With a scream of hysteiical laughter, seizes both Dickon's 
hands and dattces him about the forge. '\ 

O Beelzebub ! I shall die ! 

DICKON 

Thou hast thy son. 

\_Dickon whispers in the Scarecrow'' s ear, shakes his finger, 
and exit.'\ 

GOODY RICKEY 

He called me "mother." Again, boy, again. 

THE SCARECROW 

From the bottom of my heart — mother. 

GOODY RICKEY 

" The bottom of his heart " — Nay, thou killest me. 



THE SCARECROW 39 

THE SCARECROW 

Permit me, madam ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

Gilead ! Gilead himself ! Waistcoat, " permit me," 
and all : thy father over again, I tell thee. 

THE SCARECROW 
\With a slight stammer. '\ 

It gives me — I assure you — lady — the deepest 
happiness. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Just so the old hypocrite spoke when I said I'd have 
him. But thou hast a sweeter deference, my son. 

\_Re'enter Dickon ; he is dressed all in black, save for a 
white stock, — a suit of plain elegance. '\ 

DICKON 
Now, my lord, your tutor is ready. 

THE SCARECROW 
[ To Goody Rickdy.~\ 

I have the honour — permit me — to wish you — 
good morning. 

\_Bo7vs atid takes a step after Dickon, who, taking a three- 
cornered cocked hat from a peg, goes toward the door.'\ 

GOODY RICKEY 

Whoa ! Whoa, Jack ! Whither away .? 



40 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 
\Presenting the hat.'\ 
Deign to reply, sir, 

THE SCARECROW 

I go — with my tutor — Master Dickonson — to 
pay my respects — to his worship — the Justice — 
Merton — to solicit — the hand — of his daughter — 
the fair Mistress — Rachel. 

[ With another bow.'\ 
Permit me. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Permit ye ? God speed ye ! Thou must teach him 
his tricks, Dickon. 

DICKON 

Trust me, Goody. Between here and Justice Mer- 
ton's, I will play the mother-hen, and I promise thee, 
our bantling shall be as stuffed with compliments as 
a callow chick with caterpillars. 

\_As he throws open the big doors, the cawi?ig of crows is 
heard again."] 

Hark ! your lordship's retainers acclaim you on your 
birthday. They bid you welcome to your majority. 
Listen ! " Long live Lord Ravensbane ! Caw ! " 

GOODY RICKEY 

Look! Count 'em, Dickon. 



THE SCARECROW 4 1 

One for sorrow, 
Two for mirth, 
Three for a wedding, 
Four for a birth — 

Four on 'em ! So ! Good luck on thy birthday ! 
And see ! There's three on 'em flying into the Jus- 
tice's field. 

— Flight o' the crows 

Tells how the wind blows ! — 

A wedding ! Get ye gone. Wed the girl, and sting 
the Justice. Bless ye, my son ! 

THE SCARECROW 
[ With a profound reverence^ 

Mother — believe me — to be — your ladyship's — 
most devoted — and obedient — son. 

DICKON 
\Prompting him aloud.'\ 
Ravensbane. 

THE SCARECROW 

\Donning his hat, lifts his head in hauteur, shakes his lace 
ruffle over his hand, turns his shoulder, nods slightly, 
and speaks for the first time with complete mastery of 
his voice.] 

Hm ! Ravensbane ! 

[With one hand in the arm of Dickon, the other twirling his 
cane {the converted chaise-spoke^, wreathed in halos of 
smoke from his pipe, the fantastical figure hitches ele- 
gantly forth into the daylight, amid louder acclamations 
of the crows.] 



j 



ACT II 



< 



ACT II 

The same morning. Justice Merton's parlour, furnished and 
designed in the style of the early colonial period. On 
the right -wall, hangs a portrait of the fustice as a young 
man ; on the left wall, an old-fashioned looking-glass. 
At the right of the room stands the Glass of Truth, 
draped — as in the blacksmith shop — with the strange, 
embroidered curtain. 

In front of it are discovered Rachel and Richard ; Rachel 
is about to draw the curtain. 

RACHEL 

Now ! Are you willing ? 

RICHARD 

So you suspect me of dark, villainous practices ? 

RACHEL 

No, no, foolish Dick. 

RICHARD 

Still, I am to be tested ; is that it ? 

RACHEL 

That's it. 

RICHARD 

As your true lover. 

45 



46 


THE SCARECROW 




RACHEL 


Well, yes. 






RICHARD 



Why, of course, then, I consent. A true lover 
always consents to the follies of his lady-love. 

RACHEL 

Thank you, Dick ; I trust the glass will sustain 
your character. Now ; when I draw the curtain — 

RICHARD 
\Staying her hand.'] 
What if I be false .? 

RACHEL 

Then, sir, the glass will reflect you as the subtle 
fox that you are. 

RICHARD 

And you — as the goose .-' 

RACHEL 

Very likely. Ah ! but, Richard dear, we mustn't 
laugh. It may prove very serious. You do not 
guess — you do not dream all the mysteries — 

RICHARD 
\_Shaking his head, with a grave smile.'] 

You pluck at too many mysteries; sometime they 
may burn your fingers. Remember our first mother 
Eve! 



THE SCARECROW 47 

RACHEL 

But this is the glass of truth ; and Goody Rickby 
told me — 

RICHARD 

Rickby, forsooth! 

RACHEL 

Nay, come ; let's have it over. 

\_She draws the curtain, covers her eyes, steps back by 
Richard's side, looks at the glass, and gives a joyous 
C7y.'\ 

Ah ! there you are, dear ! There we are, both of us — 
just as we have always seemed to each other, true. 
'Tis proved. Isn't it wonderful ? 

RICHARD 

Miraculous ! That a mirror bought in a black- 
smith shop, before sunrise, for twenty pounds, should 
prove to be actually — a mirror ! 

RACHEL 

Richard, I'm so happy. 

\Enter Justice Merton and Mistress Merton.] 

RICHARD 
\_Embracing her."] 

Happy, art thou, sweet goose? Why, then, God 
bless Goody Rickby. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Strange words from you, Squire Talbot. 



48 THE SCARECROW 

\_Rachel and Richard part quickly ; Rachel draws the cur- 
tain over the mirror ; Richai'd stands stiffly. '\ 
t 

RICHARD 

Justice Merton! Why, sir, the old witch is more 
innocent, perhaps, than I represented her. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

A witch, believe me, is never innocent. 

\Taking their ha?ids, he brings them together and kisses 
Rachel on the forehead^ 

Permit me, young lovers. I was once young myself, 
young and amorous. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

[/« a low voice. '\ 
Verily! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

My fair niece, my worthy young man, beware of 
witchcraft. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

And Goody Rickby, too, brother } 

JUSTICE MERTON 

That woman shall answer for her deeds. She is 

proscribed. 

RACHEL 

Proscribed.'' What is that? 

MISTRESS MERTON 
\_Examining the mirror^ 
What is this? 



THE SCARECROW 49 

JUSTICE MERTON 

She shall hang. 

RACHEL 

Uncle, no! Not merely because of my purchase 
this morning. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Your purchase } 

MISTRESS MERTON 
\_Poin(i?ig to the mirror^ 
That, I suppose. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

What ! you purchased that mirror of her } You 
brought it here .-' 

RACHEL 

No, the boy brought it; I found it here when I 
returned. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

What ! From her ! You purchased it .-• From her 
shop .-• From her infamous den, into my parlour ! 

{To Mistress Merton.'] 
Call the servant. 

\Hbnself calling i\ 

Micah ! This instant, this instant — away with it ! 
Micah ! 

RACHEL ' 

Uncle Gilead, I bought — 



50 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Micah, I say ! Where is the man ? 

RACHEL 

Listen, Uncle. I bought it with my own money. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Thine own money ! Wilt have the neighbours 
gossip ? Wilt have me, thyself, my house, suspected 
of complicity with witches ? 

[-£'«/<f^ Micah. 1 

Micah, take this away. 

MICAH 

Yes, sir; but, sir — 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Out of my house ! 

MICAH 

There be visitors. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Away with — 

MISTRESS MERTON 

[^Touching his arm.'] 
Gilead ! 

MICAH 
Visitors, sir ; gentry. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Ah! 



THE SCARECROW 5 1 

MICAH 
Shall I show them in, sir ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Visitors ! In the morning ? Who are they ? 

MICAH 

Strangers, sir. I should judge they be very high 

gentry ; lords, sir. 

ALL 
Lords ! 

MICAH 

At least, one on 'em, sir. The other — the dark 
gentleman — told me they left their horses at the inn, 
sir. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Hark! 

\The faces of all wear suddenly a startled expression^ 
Where is that unearthly sound } 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Listening.'\ 

Is it in the cellar .-' 

MICAH 

'Tis just the dog howling, madam. When he spied 
the gentry he turned tail and run below. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Oh, the dog! 



52 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Show the gentlemen here, Micah. Don't keep 

them waiting. 

\Exit Micah.] 
A lord ! 

\_To Rachel.~\ 

We shall talk of this matter later. — A lord ! 

l^Turnifig to the small glass on the wall, he arranges his 
peruke and attire.~\ 

RACHEL 

\To Richard.'] 

What a fortunate interruption ! But, dear Dick ! 
I wish we needn't meet these strangers now. 

RICHARD 

Would you really rather we were alone together .-• 
\_They chat aside, absorbed in each other.'] 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Think of it, Cynthia, a lord ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 
\_Dusting the furniture hastily with her handkerchief.] 
And such dust ! 

RACHEL 
\_To Richa7'd7\ 

You know, dear, we need only be introduced, and 
then we can steal away together. 
\Reenter Micah.] 



THE SCARECROW 53 

MIC AH 
\^Announcing^ 

Lord Ravensbane: Marquis of Oxford, Baron of 
Wittenberg, Elector of Worms, and Count of Cordova j 
Master Dickonson. 

\_Enter Ravensbane and Dickon.] 
JUSTICE MERTON 

Gentlemen, permit me, you are excessively wel- 
come. I am deeply gratified to meet — 

DICKON 

Lord Ravensbane, of the Rookeries, Somersetshire. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Lord Ravensbane — his lordship's most truly 
honoured. 

RAVENSBANE 

Truly honoured. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Turning to Dickon^ 
His lordship's — .'' 

DICKON 
Tutor. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

[ Checkitig his effusiveness. "^ 
Ah, so ! 

DICKON 

Justice Merton, I believe. 



54 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Of Merton House. — May I present — permit me, 
your lordship — my sister, Mistress Merton. 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Merton. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

And my — and my — 

\_Under his breath?!^ 
Rachel ! 

\_Rachel remains with a bored expression behind RichardJ] 

— my young neighbour, Squire Talbot, Squire Rich- 
ard Talbot of — of — 

RICHARD 
Of nowhere, sir. 

RAVENSBANE 

\_Nods.'] 
Nowhere. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

And permit me. Lord Ravensbane, my niece — 
Mistress Rachel Merton. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Bows lowJ] 
Mistress Rachel Merton. 

RACHEL 
[ Courtesies. "^ 
Lord Ravensbane. 



THE SCARECROW 55 

\_As they raise their heads, their eyes meet and are fascinated. 
Dickon just then takes Ravensbane' s pipe and fills it.'\ 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel ! 

RACHEL 

Your lordship ! 

\_Dickon returns the pipe ^ 

MISTRESS MERTON 

A pipe ! Gilead ! — in the parlour ! 

\_Justice Merton frowns silence^ 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Your lordship — ahem ! — has just arrived in town? 

DICKON 
From London, via New Amsterdam. 

RICHARD 
\_AsideJ\ 
Is he staring at you ? Are you ill, Rachel ? 

RACHEL 

\_Indifferently.'\ 
What ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Lord Ravensbane honours my humble roof. 



56 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 
\Touches Ravensbane'' s arm.'\ 
Your lordship — " roof." 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Sfarting, turns to Merton.'\ 

Nay, sir, the roof of my father's oldest friend be- 
stows generous hospitality upon his only son. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Only son — ah, yes ! Your father — 

RAVENSBANE 

My father, I trust, sir, has never forgotten the 
intimate companionship, the touching devotion, the 
unceasing solicitude for his happiness which you, 
sir, manifested to him in the days of his youth. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Really, your lordship, the — the slight favours which 
— hem ! some years ago, I was privileged to show 
your illustrious father — 

RAVENSBANE 

Permit me ! — Because, however, of his present 
infirmities — for I regret to say that my father is 
suffering a temporary aberration of mind — 

JUSTICE MERTON 

You distress me ! 



THE SCARECROW 57 

RAVENSBANE 

My lady mother has charged me with a double 
mission here in New England. On my quitting my 
home, sir, to explore the wideness and the mystery 
of this world, my mother bade me be sure to call 
upon his worship, the Justice Merton ; and deliver 
to him, first, my father's remembrances ; and sec- 
ondly, my mother's epistle. 

DICKON 
\_Handmg to Justice Merton a sealed document^ 
Her ladyship's letter, sir. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\Examining the seal with a%ve, speaks aside to Mistress 
Alert on. '\ 

Cynthia ! — a crested seal ! 

DICKON 
His lordship's crest, sir : rooks rampant. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Embarrassed, breaks the seal."] 
Permit me. 

RACHEL 

\_Looking at Ravensbane.'\ 

Have you noticed his bearing, Richard : what per- 
sonal distinction ! what inbred nobility ! Every inch 
a true lord ! 



58 THE SCARECROW 

RICHARD 

He may be a lord, my dear, but he walks like a 
broomstick. 

RACHEL 
How dare you ! 

[ Turns abruptly away ; as she does so, a fold of her gown 
catches in a chair^ 

DICKON 

\To Justice Merton.~\ 
A word, sir. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Glancing up from the letter. "^ 
I am astonished — overpowered ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel — permit me. 

[Stooping, he extricates the fold of her gown. "^ 

RACHEL 
Oh, thank you. 

\_They go aside together.'] 

RICHARD 
\To Mistress Merton."] 

So Lord Ravensbane and his family are old friends 
of yours ? 

MISTRESS MERTON 
\Monosylladically.'] 
I never heard the name before, Richard. 



THE SCARECROW 59 

RICHARD 

Why ! but I thought that your brother, the Jus- 
tice — 

MISTRESS MERTON 

The Justice is reticent. 

RICHARD 

Ah! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Especially concerning his youth. 

RICHARD 

Ah! 

RAVENSBANE 
\_To Rachel, taking her hand after a whisper from Dickon.'] 

Believe me, sweet lady, it will give me the deepest 
pleasure. 

RACHEL 

Can you really tell fortunes } 

RAVENSBANE 

More than that; I can bestow them. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\^To Dickon^ 

But is her ladyship really serious } An offer of 
m.arriage ! 

DICKON 

Pray read it again, sir. 



60 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Reads^ 

"To the Worshipful, the Justice Gilead Merton, 

"Merton House. 
"My Honourable Friend and Benefactor : 

"With these brief lines I commend to you our 
son " — our son ! 

DICKON 

She speaks Hkewise for his young lordship's 
father, sir. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Ah ! of course. 

]^Reads!\ 

" In a strange land, I intrust him to you as to a 
father." Honoured, believe me ! " I have only to 
add my earnest hope that the natural gifts, graces, 
and inherited fortune " — ah — ! 

DICKON 

Twenty thousand pounds — on his father's demise. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Ah ! — "fortune of this young scion of nobility will 
so propitiate the heart of your niece, Mistress Rachel 
Merton, as to cause her to accept his proffered hand 
in matrimony;" — but — but — but Squire Talbot is 
betrothed to — well, well, we shall see; — "in matri- 
mony, and thus cement the early bonds of interest 
and affection between your honoured self and his 



THE SCARECROW 6 1 

lordship's father ; not to mention, dear sir, your wor- 
ship's ever grateful and obedient admirer, 

" Elizabeth, 

" Marchioness of R." 

Of R. ! of R. ! Will you believe me, my dear sir, 
so long is it since my travels in England — I visited at 
so many — hem ! noble estates — permit me, it is so 
awkward, but — 

DICKON 
\\Vith his peadiar intojiatioji of Act I^ 
Not at all. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Starting^ 

I — I confess, sir, my youthful memory fails me. 
Will you be so very obliging; this — this Marchioness 
of R.— .? 

DICKON 

\_Enjoymg his discomfiture^ 
Yes.? 

JUSTICE MERTON 
The R, I presume, stands for — 

DICKON 

Rickby. 

RAVENSBANE 

Dickon, my pipe ! 

\_Dicko7i glides away to fill Ravejisbane's pipe^ 



62 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\Stands bewilde?-ed and horror-struck.'] 
Great God ! — Thou inexorable Judge ! 

RICHARD 

\^To Mistress Me r ton, scowling at Ravensbane and Rachel.l 
Are these court manners, in London ? 

MISTRESS MERTON 
Don't ask me, Richard. 

RAVENSBANE 
\Dejectedly to Rachel, as Dickon is refilling his pipe ^ 
Alas ! Mistress Rachel is cruel. 

RACHEL 

I.? — cruel, your lordship ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Your own white hand has written it. 

[Lifting her palm.'] 

See, these lines: Rejection! you will reject one 
who loves you dearly. 

RACHEL 

Fie, your lordship ! Be not cast down at fortune- 
telling. Let me tell yours, may I .-' 

RAVENSBANE 
[Rapturously holding his palm for her to examine.] 
Ah ! Permit me. 



THE SCARECROW 63 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\Murmurs, in terrible agitation^ 
Dickon ! Can it be Dickon ? 

RACHEL 

Why, Lord Ravensbane, your pulse. Really, if I 
am cruel, you are quite heartless. I declare I can't 
feel your heart beat at all. 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah ! mistress, that is because I have just lost it. 

RACHEL 

\Archly?\ 
Where.? 

RAVENSBANE 

\Faintly?^ 
Dickon, my pipe ! 

RACHEL 

Alas ! my lord, are you ill ? 

DICKON 
[Restoring the lighted pipe to Ravensbane, speaks aside.] 

Pardon me, sweet young lady, I must confide to 
you that his lordship's heart is peculiarly responsive 
to his emotions. When he feels very ardently, it 
quite stops. Hence the use of his pipe. 

RACHEL 

Oh ! Is smoking, then, necessary for his heart ? 



64 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

Absolutely — to equilibrate the valvular palpita- 
tions. Without his pipe — should his lordship expe- 
rience, for instance, the emotion of love — he might 
die. 

RACHEL 

You alarm me ! 

DICKON 

But this is for you only, Mistress Rachel. We 

may confide in you .-' 

RACHEL 
Oh, utterly, sir. 

DICKON 
His lordship, you know, is so sensitive. 

RAVENSBANE 
\To Rachel?^ 

You have given it back to me. Why did not you 
keep it ? 

RACHEL 
What, my lord ? 

RAVENSBANE 

My heart. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\To Dickon?^ 
Permit me, one moment ; I did not catch your name. 

DICKON 

My name ? Dickonson. 



THE SCARECROW 65 

JUSTICE MERTON 
■ [ With a gasp of relief ?\ 
Ah, Dickonson ! Thank you. I mistook the word. 

DICKON 

A compound, your worship. 

[ With a maiigJiant smi/e^ 
Dickon- 

[^Then jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Ravensbane.'\ 

son ! 

\^Bowing.'\ 

Both at your service. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
If — if you can show pity — speak low. 

DICKON 

As hell, your worship } 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Is he — he there .<' 

DICKON 

Bessie's brat ; yes ; it didn't die, after all, poor 
suckling ! Dickon weaned it. Saved it for balm of 
Gilead. Raised it for joyful home-coming. Prodi- 
gal's return ! Twenty-first birthday ! Happy son ! 
Happy father ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

My — son ! 

F 



66 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

Felicitations ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

I will not believe it. 

* DICKON 

Truth is hard fare. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\Faintly^ 
What — what do you want ? 

DICKON 
Only the happiness of your dear ones. 

[Indicating Rachel a?id Ravensbane^ 
The union of these young hearts and hands. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

What ! he will dare — an illegitimate — 

DICKON 

Fie, fie, Gilly ! Why, the brat is a lord now. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Oh, the disgrace ! Spare me that, Dickon. 

RICHARD 

\_Ifi a lotv voice to Rachel, who is talking in a fascinated 
manner to Ravensbane^ 

Are you rnad ? 



THE SCARECROW 67 

RACHEL 
\Indifferently^ 
What is the matter ? 

\_Laughing, to Ravensbane^ 
Oh, your lordship is too witty ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\To Dickon ^^ 
After all, I was young then. 

DICKON 

Quite so. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

And she is innocent ; she is already betrothed. 

DICKON 

Twiddle-twaddle ! Look at her eyes now ! 

\Rachel is still telling Ravensbane' s fortune ; and they are 
manifestly absorbed in each other.~\ 

'Tis a brilliant match ; besides, her ladyship's heart 
is set upon it. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Her ladyship — .-' 

DICKON 

The Marchioness of Rickby. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\JQlowering^^ 
I had forgotten. 



68 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

Her ladyship has never forgotten. So, you see, 
your worship's alternatives are most simple. Alter- 
native one : advance his lordship's suit with your 
niece as speedily as possible, and save all scandal. 
Alternative two : impede his lordship's suit, and — 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Don't, Dickon ! don't reveal the truth ; not dis- 
grace now ! 

DICKON 

Good ; we are agreed, then ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

I have no choice. 

DICKON 
[ Cheei'fully.'] 
Why, true ; we ignored that, didn't we } 

MISTRESS MERTON 
{Approaching.'] 
This young lord — Why, Gilead, are you ill 1 

JUSTICE MERTON 
[ With a great effort, commands himself P^ 
Not in the least. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Rachel's deportment, my dear brother — 



THE SCARECROW 6g 



RACHEL 

I am really at a loss. Your lordship's hand is so 
very peculiar. 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah ! Peculiar. 

RACHEL 

This, now, is the line of life. 

RAVENSBANE 

Of life, yes ? 

RACHEL 

But it begins so abruptly, and see ! it breaks off 
and ends nowhere. And just so here with this line 
— the line of — of love. 

RAVENSBANE 

Of love. So ; it breaks .'' 

RACHEL 

Yes. 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah, then, that must be the /icart line. 

RACHEL 

I am afraid your lordship is very fickle. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

I tell you, Gilead, they are fortune-telling ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Tush ! Tush ! 



70 THE SCARECROW 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Tush ? " Tush " to vie ? Tush ! 

[Richard, who has been stifling his feelings at RacheVs re- 
buff, and has stood fidgeti?ig at a civil distajice from 
her, now walks up to Justice Merton.'] 

RICHARD 

Intolerable ! Do you approve of this, sir ? Are 
Lord Ravensbane's credentials satisfactory ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Eminently, eminently. 

RICHARD 

Ah ! So her ladyship's letter is — 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Charming ; charming. 

RICHARD 

To be sure ; old friends, when they are lords, it 
makes such a difference. 

DICKON 

True friends — old friends ; 
New friends — cold friends. 

N'est ce pas, your worship ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Indeed, Master Dickonson ; indeed ! 



THE SCARECROW 7 1 

\To Richard, as Dickon goes toward Ravensbane and 
Rachel.'\ 

What happiness to encounter the manners of the 

nobility ! 

RICHARD 

If you approve them, sir, it is sufficient. This is 

your house. 

[^He ttirjis away.'} 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Your lordship will, I trust, make my house your 
home. 

RAVENSBANE 

My home, sir. 

RACHEL 
[71? Dickon, who has spoken to her^ 

Really ? 

\To Justice Merton.'] 

Why, uncle, what is this Master Dickonson tells 

us? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

What ! What ! he has revealed — 

RACHEL 

Yes, indeed. Why did you never tell us .? 
JUSTICE MERTON 

Rachel ! Rachel ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 
You are moved, brother. 



72 THE SCARECROW 

RACHEL 
\_Laiighingly to Ravensbane.'\ 

My uncle is doubtless astonished to find you so 
grown. 

RAVENSBANE 

\_Laughingly to Justice Merton.'\ 
I am doubtless astonished, sir, to be so grown. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\To Dicko?i^ 
You have — 

DICKON 

Remarked, sir, that your worship had often 
dandled his lordship — as an infant. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\Smiling lugubriously^ 
Quite so — as an infant merely. 

RACHEL 

How interesting ! Then you must have seen his 
lordship's home in England. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

As you say. 

RACHEL 
[ To Ravensbane.'\ 

Do describe it to us. We are so isolated here 
from the grand world. Do you know, I always 



THE SCARECROW 73 

imagine England to be an enchanted isle, like one of 
the old Hesperides, teeming with fruits of solid gold. 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah, yes ! my mother raises them. 

RACHEL 
Fruits of gold ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Round like the rising sun. She calls them — ah ! 
punkins. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

" Punkins ! " 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\Aside, grinding his teeth^ 
Scoundrel! Scoundrel! 

RACHEL 
\Laughing?^ 
Your lordship pokes fun at us. 

DICKON 

His lordship is an artist in words, mistress. I 
have noticed that in whatever country he is travel- 
ling, he tinges his vocabulary with the local idiorti. 
His lordship means, of course, not pumpkins, but 
pomegranates. 

RACHEL 

We forgive him. But, your lordship, please be 
serious and describe to us your hall. 



74 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 

Quite serious: the hall. Yes, yes; in the middle 
burns a great fire — on a black — ah ! — black altar, 

DICKON 

A Druidical heirloom. His lordship's mother col- 
lects antiques. 

RACHEL 

How fascinating ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Quite fascinating ! On the walls hang pieces of 
iron. 

DICKON 

Trophies of Saxon warfare. 

RAVENSBANE 

And rusty horseshoes. 

GENERAL MURMURS 

Horseshoes ! 

DICKON 

Presents from the German emperor. They were 
worn by the steeds of Charlemagne. 

RAVENSBANE 

Quite so ; and broken cart-wheels. 

DICKON 

Reliques of British chariots. 



THE SCARECROW 75 

RACHEL 

How mediaeval it must be ! 

\To Justice Merton.~\ 
And to think you never described it to us ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

True, brother ; you have been singularly reticent. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Permit me ; it is impossible to report all one sees 
on one's travels. 

MISTRESS MERTON 
Evidently. 

RACHEL 

But surely your lordship's mother has other diver- 
sions besides collecting antiques. I have heard that 
in England ladies followed the hounds ; and some- 
times — 

\_Looking at her aunt and lowering her voice.'\ 

they even dance. 

RAVENSBANE 

Dance — ah, yes ; my lady mother dances about 
the — the altar ; she swings high a hammer. 

DICKON 

Your lordship, your lordship ! Pray, sir, check 
this vein of poetry. Lord Ravensbane symboHzes as 
a hammer and altar a golf -stick and tee — a Scottish 



'j6 THE SCARECROW 

game, which her ladyship plays on her Highland 
estates. 

RICHARD 
\To Mistress Merton^ 
What do you think of this ? 

MISTRESS MERTON 
[ With a scandalized look toward her brother^ 
He said to me " tush." 

RICHARD 
\_To Justice Merton, indicating Dickon^ 
Who is this magpie ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Hisses in fury. '\ 
Satan ! 

RICHARD 

I beg pardon ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Satan, sir — makes you jealous. 

RICHARD 

\_Bo'ws stiffly. '\ 
Good morning. 

[ Walking up to Ravensbane^ 

Lord Ravensbane, I have a rustic colonial question 
to ask. Is it the latest fashion to smoke incessantly 
in ladies' parlours, or is it — mediaeval .-' 



THE SCARECROW 77 

DICKON 

His lordship's health, sir, necessitates — 

RICHARD 

I addressed his lordship. 

RAVENSBANE 

In the matter of fashions, sir — 

\_Hatids his pipe to be refilled.'^ 

My pipe, Dickon! 

[ While Dickon holds his pipe — somewhat longer than usual 
— Ravensbane, with his mouth open as if about to speak, 
relapses into a vacant stare.'\ 

DICKON 

\_As he lights the pipe for Ravensbane, speaks suavely and 
low as if not to be overheard by hi?}i.~\ 

Pardon me. The fact is, my young pupil is sensi- 
tive; the wound from his latest duel is not quite 
healed ; you observe a slight lameness, an occasional 
absence of mind. 

RACHEL 

A wound — in a real duel } 

RICHARD 

Necessitates his smoking ! A valid reason ! 

DICKON 

[_Aside.'] 

You, mistress, know the //v/i" reason — his lordship's 
heart. 



78 THE SCARECROW 

RACHEL 

Believe me, sir — 

RICHARD 
\To Ravensbane, who is still staring vacantly into space."] 
Well, well, your lordship. 

\Ravensbane pays no attention?^ 
You were saying — ? 

\_Dickon returns the pipe.] 
in the matter of fashions, sir — ? 

RAVENSBANE 

\_Regaining slowly a look of intelligence, draws himself up 
with affronted hauteur.] 
Permit me ! 

\_Puffs several wreaths of smoke into the air.] 

I a7n the fashions. 

RICHARD 

[ Going.] 
Insufferable ! 

\_He pauses at the door.] 

MISTRESS MERTON ■ 
\_To ftistice Merton.] 
Well — what do you think of that? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Spoken like King Charles himself. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Brother ! brother ! is there nothing wrong here .-' 



THE SCARECROW 79 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Wrong, Cynthia ! Manifestly you are quite 
ignorant of the manners of the great. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Oh, Gilead ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Where are you going ? 

MISTRESS MERTON 
To my room. 

\_Murviurs, as she hurries out.~\ 

Dear ! dear ! if it should be that again ! 

[^Dickon and Justice Merto7i withdraw to a corner of the 
room.'\ 

RACHEL 
\To Ravensbane."] 

I — object to the smoke? Why, I think it is 
charming. 

RICHARD 

[ Who has returned from the door, speaks in a low, coji- 
strained voice. '\ 
Rachel ! 

RACHEL 
Oh ! — you .? 

RICHARD 

You take quickly to European fashions. 

RACHEL 
Yes ? To what one in particular } 



8o THE SCARECROW 

RICHARD 

Two ; smoking and flirtation. 

RACHEL 

Jealous ? 

RICHARD 

Of an idiot ? I hope not. Manners differ, how- 
ever. Your confidences to his lordship have evi- 
dently not included — your relation to me. 

RACHEL 

Oh, our relations ! 

RICHARD 

Of course, since you wish him to continue in igno- 
rance — 

RACHEL 

Not at all. He shall know at once. Lord Ravens- 
bane ! 

RAVENSBANE 
Fair mistress ! 

RICHARD 

Rachel, stop ! I did not mean — 

RACHEL 
\To RavensbaneJ] 

My uncle did not introduce to you with sufficient 
elaboration this gentleman. Will you allow me to do 
so now ? 

RAVENSBANE 

I adore Mistress Rachel's elaborations. 



THE SCARECROW 8 1 

RACHEL 

Lord Ravensbane, I beg to present Squire Talbot, 
my betrothed. 

RAVENSBANE 

Betrothed! Is it — 

[^Noticing Richard's frown.'\ 
is it pleasant ? 

RACHEL 
[7(? Richard^ 
Are you satisfied ? 

RICHARD 
\_Trembling with feeling.'\ 

More than satisfied. 

\_Exit.'] 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Looking after him.'\ 
Ah ! Betrothed is not pleasant. 

RACHEL 

Not always. 

RAVENSBANE 
\Anxiously?^ 
Mistress Rachel is not pleased .-' 

RACHEL 
\_Biting her lip, looks after Richard^ 
With him. 

G 



82 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel will smile again ? 

RACHEL 

Soon. 

RAVENSBANE 

\_Ardent.'\ 

Ah! if she would only smile once more! What 
can Lord Ravensbane do to make her smile ? See ! 
will you puff my pipe ? It is very pleasant. 

[ Offering the pipe.'] 

RACHEL 

\_Smiling.'\ 
Shall I try .? 

\_Takes hold of it mischievously.'] 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_In a great voice.] 
Rachel! 

RACHEL 
Why, uncle ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Froi?i where he has been co7iversingin a corner with Dickon, 
approaches now and speaks suavely to Ravensbane^ 

Permit me, your lordship — Rachel, you will kindly 
withdraw for a few moments ; I desire to confer with 
Lord Ravensbane concerning his mother's — her lady- 
ship's letter ; 



\ 



I 



THE SCARECROW 83 

\_Obsequiously io Dickon. '\ 

— that is, if you think, sir, that your noble pupil is 
not too fatigued. 

DICKON 

Not at all ; I think his lordship will listen to you 
with much pleasure. 

RAVENSBANE 

\Bowing to Justice Merton, but looking at Rachel.'] 
With much pleasure. 

DICKON 
And in the meantime, if Mistress Rachel will allow 
me, I will assist her in writing those invitations which 
your worship desires to send in her name. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Invitations — from my niece ? 

DICKON 

To his Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor; to 
your friends, the Reverend Masters at Harvard Col- 
lege, etc., etc. ; in brief, to all your worship's select 
social acquaintance in the vicinity — to meet his 
lordship. It was so thoughtful in you to suggest it, 
sir, and believe me, his lordship appreciates your 
courtesy in arranging the reception in his honour for 
this afternoon. 

RACHEL 
\To Justice Merton.'] 

This afternoon ! Are we really to give his lord- 
ship a reception this afternoon ? 



84 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

Your uncle has already given me the list of 
guests ; so considerate ! Permit me to act as your 
scribe, Mistress Rachel. 

RACHEL 

With pleasure. 

{To Justice Merton.'\ 
And will it be here, uncle ? 

DICKON 
\Looking at him narrowly.'\ 
Your worship said here, I believe ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Quite so, sir; quite so, quite so, 

DICKON 
\_Aside to Justice Merton.'] 

I advise nothing rash, Gilly ; the brat has a weak 
heart. 

RACHEL 

This way, Master Dickonson, to the study. 

DICKON 
\_As he goes with RacheL'\ 
I will write and you sign ? 

RACHEL 
Thank you. 



THE SCARECROW 8$ 

DICKON 
\_Aside, as he passes Ravensdane.'] 
Remember, Jack ! Puff, puff ! 

RACHEL 

[71? Ravensbatte, who stretches out his hand to her with a 
gesture of entreaty to stay.'] 

Your lordship is to be my guest. 

[Courtesying.l 

Till we meet again! 

DICKON 
[7<? Rachel.] 
May I sharpen your quill ? 
[^Exeunt.] 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Fai'ntIy, looking after her.] 
Till — we — meet — again ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Low and vehement to Ravensbane.] 
Impostor ! 

RAVENSBANE 

\StiU staring at the door.] 

She is gone. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

You at least shall not play the lord and master to 
my face. 



86 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 

Quite — gone ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

I know with whom I have to deal. If I be any 
judge of my own flesh and blood — permit me — you 
shall quail before me. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Dejectedly.'\ 

She did not smile — 

{^Joyously.'] 
She smiled ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Affected rogue ! I know thee. I know thy feigned 
pauses, thy assumed vagaries. Speak ; how much do 
you want ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Betrothed, — he went away. That was good. 
And then — she did not smile : that was not good. 
But then — she smiled ! Ah ! that was good. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Come back, coward, and face me. 

RAVENSBANE 

First, the great sun shone over the corn-fields, the 
grass was green ; the black wings rose and flew 
before me ; then the door opened — and she looked 
at me. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Speak, I say ! What sum } What treasure do you 
hope to bleed from me } 



THE SCARECROW %'J 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Ecstatically.'\ 
Ah ! Mistress Rachel ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Her ! Scoundrel, if thou dost name her again, my 
innocent — my sweet maid ! If thou dost — thou 
godless spawn of temptation — mark you, I will put 
an end — 

\_Reaching/or a pistol that rests in a rack on the wall, — the 
intervenifig form of Dickon suddenly appears, pockets 
the pistol, and exit.'] 

DICKON 
I beg pardon ; I forgot something. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Sinki)ig into a chair."] 
God is just. 

\_He holds his head in his hands and weeps.] 

RAVENSBANE 
\_For the first time, since RacheVs departure, observes Merton.] 
Permit me, sir, are you ill ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Recoilingl] 

What art thou .? 

RAVENSBANE 

\_Monotonously. ] 

I am Lord Ravensbane: Marquis of Oxford, Baron 
of Wittenberg, Elector of Worms, and — 



88 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 
And my son ! 

\_C overs his face agam.'\ 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Solicitously?[ 
Shall I call Dickon ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Yea, for thou art my son. The deed once done is 
never done, the past is the present. 

RAVENSBANE 
[ Walking softly toward the door, calls."] 
Dickon ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Starting tip.'] 

No, do not call him. Stay, and be merciful. Tell 
me : I hate thee not ; thou wast innocent. Tell me ! 
— I thought thou hadst died as a babe. — Where has 
Dickon, our tyrant, kept thee these twenty years ? 

RAVENSBANE 
[IVith gentle courtesy.'] 
Master Dickonson is my tutor. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

And why has thy mother — Ah, I know well ; I 
deserve all. But yet, it must not be published now ! 
I am a justice now, an honoured citizen — and my 



THE SCARECROW 89 

young niece — Thy mother will not demand so 
much; she will be considerate; she will ask some 
gold, of course, but she will show pity ! 

RAVENSBANE 

My mother is the Marchioness of Rickby. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Yes, yes ; 'twas well planned, a clever trick. 'Twas 
skilful of her. But surely thy mother gave thee 
commands to — 

RAVENSBANE 

My mother gave me her blessing. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Ah, 'tis well then. Young man, my son, I too will 
give thee my blessing, if thou wilt but go — go in- 
stantly — go with half my fortune, go away forever, 
and leave my reputation unstained. 

RAVENSBANE 
Go away.'' 

\_Starting for the study door.'\ 

Ah, sir, with much pleasure. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

You will go } You will leave me my honour — and 
my Rachel .■' 

RAVENSBANE 

Rachel ? Rachel is yours } No, no. Mistress Ra- 
chel is mine. We are ours. 



90 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\Pleadingly.'\ 
Consider the disgrace. 

RAVENSBANE 

No, no ; I have seen her eyes, they are mine ; I 
have seen her smiles, they are mine ; she is mine ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Consider, one moment consider — you, an illegiti- 
mate — and she — oh, think what thou art ! 

RAVENSBANE 
\Monotonously, puffing smoke at the end.'\ 

I am Lord Ravensbane : Marquis of Oxford, Baron 
of Wittenberg, Elector of Worms, and Count — 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\Wrenching the pipe from Ravensbane^ s hand and lips ^ 

Devil's child ! Boor ! Buffoon ! 

\_Flinging the pipe away.'] 

I will stand thy insults no longer. If thou hast no 
heart — 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Putting his hand to his side, staggers.'] 
Ah ! my heart ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Hypocrite ! Thou canst not fool me. I am thy 
father. 



THE SCARECROW 9 1 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Faintly, stretching out his hand to him /or support.'] 
Father ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Stand away. Thou mayst break thy heart and 
mine and the devil's, but thou shalt not break 
Rachel's. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Faintiy.'\ 
Mistress Rachel is mine — 
\ffe staggers again, arid /a/Is, ha// rec/ining, upon a chair.] 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Good God ! Can it be — his heart ? 

RAVENSBANE 
\^More /aint/y, beginning to change expression.] 
Her eyes are mine; her smiles are mine. 
\_Ii'is eyes c/ose.] 

JUSTICE MERTON 

[ With agitated swi/tness, /ee/s and /istens at Ravensbane' s 

side.] 

Not a motion ; not a sound ! Yea, God, Thou art 
good! 'Tis his heart. He is — ah! he is my son. 
Judge Almighty, if he should die now ; may I not be 
still a moment more and make sure. No, no, my son 
— he is changing. 



92 THE SCARECROW 

[ Calls.~\ 

Help ! Help ! Rachel ! Master Dickonson ! Help ! 
Richard ! Cynthia ! Come hither ! 

\_Enter Dickon and Rachel.'\ 

RACHEL 

Uncle ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Bring wine. Lord Ravensbane has fainted. 

RACHEL 

Oh! 

[ Turning swiftly to go.'\ 
Micah, wine. 

DICKON 

[Detaining her.'] 

Stay ! His pipe ! Where is his lordship's pipe ? 

RACHEL 

Oh, terrible ! 
[Enter, at different doors, Mistress Merton and Richard.~\ 

MISTRESS MERTON 

What's the matter ^ 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_To Rachel.'] 
He threw it away. He is worse. Bring the wine. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Look ! How strange he appears ! 



THE SCARECROW 93 

RACHEL 
\Searching distractedly^ 

The pipe ! His lordship's pipe ! It is lost, Master 
Dickonson. 

DICKON 

\_Stooping, as if searching, with his back turned, having 
picked up the pipe, is filling and lighting it.'\ 

It must be found. This is a heart attack, my 
friends ; his lordship's life depends on the nicotine. 

{^Deftly he places the pipe in RachePs way.^ 

RACHEL 

Thank God ! Here it is. 

[ Carrying it to the prostrate form of Ravensbane, she lifts 
his head and is about to put the pipe iti his mouth.'\ 

Shall I — shall I put it in ? 

RICHARD 
No ! not you. 

RACHEL 

Sir! 

RICHARD 

Let his tutor perform that office. 

RACHEL 
\_Lifiing Lord Ravensbane' s head again.'] 
Here, my lord. 



94 THE SCARECROW 

RICHARD AND JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Together.~\ 
Rachel ! 

RACHEL 
You, too, uncle ? 

DICKON 

Pardon me, Mistress Rachel; give the pipe at 
once. Only a token of true affection can revive his 
lordship now. 

RICHARD 

\As Rachel puts the pipe to Ravensbane^ s lips^ 
I forbid it, Rachel. 

RACHEL 

[ Watching only RavensbaneJ] 
My lord — my lord ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Give him air ; unbutton his coat. 

\_Rachel unbuttons Ravensbane's coat, revealing the em- 
broidered waistcoatJ] 

Ah, heavens ! What do I see .-' 

JUSTICE MERTON 
[^Looks, blatiches, and signs silence to Mistress Merton?\ 

Cynthia ! 

DICKON 

See ! He puffs — he revives. He is coming to 
himself. 



THE SCARECROW 95 

MISTRESS MERTON 
\Aside to Justice Me?-ton, with deep tensity^ 

That waistcoat! that waistcoat! Brother, hast 
thou never seen it before ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Never, my sister. 

RACHEL 

\_As Ravensbane rises to his feet.'\ 
At last ! 

DICKON 

Look ! he is restored. 

RACHEL 

God be thanked ! 

DICKON 
My lord. Mistress Rachel has saved your life. 

RAVENSBANE 
\^Taking RacheFs hand.'] 
Mistress Rachel is mine ; we are ours. 

RICHARD 

Dare to repeat that. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Looking at Rachel^ 
Her eyes are mine. 

RICHARD 

\_Flinging his glove in his face.] 
And that, sir, is yours. I beUeve such is the 



96 THE SCARECROW 

proper fashion in England. If your lordship's last 
duelling wound is sufficiently healed, perhaps you 
will deign a reply. 

RACHEL 

Richard ! Your lordship ! 

RAVENSBANE 

\Stoops, picks up the glove, pockets it, bows to Rachel, and 
steps close to Richard.~\ 
Permit me ! 

\He blows a puff of smoke full in Richard's face^ 



ACT III 



ACT III 

The same day. Late afternoon. The same scejie as Act II. 

Ravensbane and Dickon discovered at table, on which are 
lying truo flails. Ravensbane is dressed in a costume 
which, composed of silk and jewels, subtly approximates 
in design to that of his original grosser compositio7i. 
So artfully, however, is this contrived that, to one igno- 
rant of his origin, his dress would appear to be merely 
an odd personal whimsy ; whereas, to one initiated, it 
would stamp him grotesquely as the apotheosis of 
scarecrows. 

Dickon is sittifig in a pedagogical attitude; Ravensbane 
stands near him, making a profound bow in the opposite 
direction. 

RAVENSBANE 

Believe me, ladies, with the true sincerity of the 

heart. 

DICKON 

Inflection a little more lachrymose, please : " The 
true sincerity of the heart.'' 

RAVENSBANE 

Believe me, ladies, with the true sincerity of the 

heart. 

DICKON 

Prettily, prettily ! Next ! 
99 

LOFC 



100 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 

[Changing his mien, as if addressing another person."^ 

Verily, sir, as that prince of poets, the immortal 
Virgil, has remarked : 

" Adeo in teneris consuescere multum est." 

DICKON 

Hm ! Act up to the sentiment. 

RAVENSBANE 
Verily, sir. as that prince — 

DICKON 

No, no ; basta ! The next. 

RAVENSBANE 
[ With another chaiige to courtly manner^ 

Trust me, your Excellency, I will inform his 
Majesty of your courtesy. 

DICKON 

His Majesty more emphatic. Remember ! You 
must impress all of the guests this afternoon. 

RAVENSBANE 
His Majesty of your courtesy. 

DICKON 

Delicious ! O thou exquisite flower of love ! How 
thy natal composites have burst in bloom : The pump- 



THE SCARECROW 1 01 

kin in thee to a golden collarette ; thy mop of crow's 
wings to these raven locks ; thy broomstick to a 
lordly limp; thy corn-silk to these pale-tinted tassels. 
Verily in the gallery of scarecrows, thou art the 
Apollo Belvedere! But continue, Cobby dear: the 
retort now to the challenge. 

RAVENSBANE 
[ With a superb air."] 
The second, I believe. 

DICKON 
Quite so, my lord. 

RAVENSBANE 

Sir ! The local person whom you represent has 
done himself the honour of submitting to me a chal- 
lenge to mortal combat. Sir ! Since the remotest 
times of my feudal ancestors, in such affairs of 
honour, choice of weapons has ever been the prerog- 
ative of the challenged. Sir ! This right of etiquette 
must be observed. Nevertheless, beheve me, I have 
no selfish desire that my superior attainments in this 
art should assume advantage over my challenger's 
ignorance. I have, therefore, chosen those combative 
utensils most appropriate both to his own humble 
origin and to local tradition. Permit me, sir, to 
reveal my choice. 

\_Pointing grandly to the table.'\ 

There are my weapons ! 



102 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 
[ Clapping his hands ^ 

My darling homunciilus ! Thou shouldst have 
acted in Beaumont and Fletcher ! 

RAVENSBANE 

There are my weapons ! 

DICKON 

I could watch thy histrionics till midnight. But 
thou art tired, poor Jacky ; two hours' rehearsal is 
fatiguing to your lordship. 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel — I may see her now ? 

DICKON 

Romeo ! Romeo ! Was ever such an amorous 
puppet show! 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel! 

DICKON 

Wait ; let me think ! Thou art wound up now, 
my pretty apparatus, for at least six and thirty hours. 
The wooden angel Gabriel that trumpets the hours 
on the big clock in Venice is not a more punctual 
manikin than thou with my speeches. Thou shouldst 
run, therefore, — 



THE SCARECROW IO3 

RAVENSBANE 
[Frowning darkly at Dickon.'] 

Stop talking ; permit me ! A tutor should know 
his place. 

DICKON 
\_Rubbing his hands.] 
Nay, your lordship is beyond comparison. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_In a terrible voice.] 
She will come ? I shall see her ? 
[Enter Micah.] 

MICAH 

Pardon, my lord. 

RAVENSBANE 

[Turning joyfully to Micah ^ 
Is it she .'' 

MICAH 

Captain Bugby, my lord, the Governor's secretary. 

DICKON 
Good. Squire Talbot's second. Show him in. 

RAVENSBANE 
[Flinging despairingly into a chair.] 
Ah! ah! 



104 "^^^ SCARECROW 

MICAH 
\^Lifting the flails f7'07n the table ^ 
Beg pardon, sir ; shall I remove — 

DICKON 
Drop them; go. 

MICAH 
But, sir — 

DICKON 

Go, thou slave ! 

\_Exit Micah.'] 

RAVENSBANE 

[/// childlike despair.'^ 
She will not come ! I shall not see her ! 

DICKON 
\_Handing him a bookJ] 
Here, my lord ; read. You must be found reading. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Flinging the book into the fireplace^ 
She does not come ! 

DICKON 

Fie, fie, Jack ; thou must not be breaking thy 
Dickon's apron-strings with a will of thine own. 
Come ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel. 



THE SCARECROW IO5 

DICKON 

Be good, boy, and thou shalt see her soon. 

RAVENSBANE 
^^Brighteningr^ 
I shall see her ? 

\_Enter Captain Bugby.] 

DICKON 
Your lordship was saying — Oh! Captain Bugby? 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
\_Nervous and awed^ 

Captain Bugby, sir, ah ! at Lord Ravensbane's 

service — ah ! 

DICKON 

I am Master Dickonson, his lordship's tutor. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
Happy, sir. 

DICKON 
\^To Ravensbane.'\ 

My lord, this gentleman waits upon you from 

Squire Talbot. 

\_To Captain Bugby ^ 

In regard to the challenge of this morning, I 
presume ? 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

The affair, ah ! the affair of this morning, sit. 



I06 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 
\With Jiis former superb air — to Captain Bugby.'\ 
The second, I believe ? 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
Quite so, my lord. 

RAVENSBANE 

Sir ! the local person whom you represent has done 
himself the honour of submitting to me a challenge 
to mortal combat. Sir ! Since the remotest times of 
my feudal ancestors, in such affairs of honour, choice 
of weapons has ever been the prerogative of the 
challenged. Sir ! this right of etiquette must be 
observed. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Indeed, yes, my lord. 

DICKON 
Pray do not interrupt. 

\To Ravensbane.'\ 
Your lordship : " observed," 

RAVENSBANE 

— observed. Nevertheless, believe me, I have no 
selfish desire that my superior attainments in this art 
should assume advantage over my challenger's igno- 
rance, I have, therefore, chosen those combative 
utensils most appropriate both to his own humble 



THE SCARECROW IO7 

origin and to local tradition. Permit me, sir, to reveal 

my choice. 

\_Pointing to the table.~\ 

There are my weapons ! 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
\_Lookmg, bewildered.'^ 
These, my lord } 

RAVENSBANE 
Those. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

But these are — are flails. 

RAVENSBANE 

Flails. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
Flails, my lord .-' 

RAVENSBANE 

There are my weapons. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Lord Ravensbane — I — ah ! express myself ill — 
Do I understand that your lordship and Squire 
Talbot — 

RAVENSBANE 

Exactly. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

But your lordship — flails ! 



I08 THE SCARECROW 



RAVENSBANE 



My adversary should be deft in their use. He has 
doubtless wielded them frequently on his barn floor. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Ahaha ! I understand now. Your lordship — ah ! 
is a wit. Haha ! Flails ! 

DICKON 
His lordship's satire is poignant. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Indeed, sir, so keen that I must apologize for 
laughing at my principal's expense. 

\Soberly to Ravensbane.'] 

My lord, if you will deign to speak one moment 
seriously — 

RAVENSBANE 

Seriously } 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

I will take pleasure in informing Squire Talbot 
— ah ! as to your real preference for — 

RAVENSBANE 

For flails, sir. I have, permit me, nothing further 
to say. Flails are final. 

\_Turns away haughtily.'] 
CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Must I really report to Squire Talbot — ah! — 
flails 1 



THE SCARECROW IO9 

DICKON 

Lord Ravensbane's will is inflexible, 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

And his wit, sir, incomparable, I am sorry for the 
Squire, but 'twill be the greatest joke in years. Ah ! 
will you tell me — is it — 

[_IndicatJng Ravensbane^s smokwg.'\ 

is it the latest fashion ? 

DICKON 

Lord Ravensbane is always the latest. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Obliged servant, sir. Aha ! Such a joke as — O 
lord! flails! 

DICKON 
\_Reiurning to Rave?isbaJie.'\ 

Bravo, my pumpky dear ! That squelches the jeal- 
ous betrothed. Now nothing remains but for you to 
continue to dazzle the enamoured Rachel, and so pre- 
sent yourself to the Justice as a pseudo-son-nephew-in- 
law. 

RAVENSBANE 

I may go to Mistress Rachel ^ 



DICKON 



She will come to you. She is reading now a poem 
from you, which I left on her dressing-table. 



no THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 

She is reading a poem from me ? 

DICKON 

With your pardon, my lord, I penned it for you. 
I am something of a poetaster. Indeed, I flatter my- 
self that I have dictated some of the finest lines in 
literature. 

RAVENSBANE 

Dickon ! She will come .■' 

DICKON 

She comes ! 

[^«/^r R-A.CHEL, reading from apiece of paper. '\ 

Hush ! Step aside ; step aside first. Let her read 

it. 

\_Dickon draws Ravensbane back.^ 

RACHEL 

Once more, 

\^Reads.'\ 

" To Mistress R , enchantress : 

If faith in witchcraft be a sin, 

Alas ! what peril he is in 

Who plights his faith and love in thee. 

Sweetest maid of sorcery. 

If witchcraft be a whirHng brain, 

A roving eye, a heart of pain. 

Whose wound no thread of fate can stitch. 

How hast thou conjured, cruel witch. 



THE SCARECROW III 

With the brain, eye, heart, and total mortal residue 

of thine enamoured 

Jack Lanthorne, 

[Lord R ."] 

DICKON 

Now to leave the turtles alone. 
\_Exit.'\ 

RACHEL 

" To Mistress R , enchantress : 

If faith in witchcraft be — " 

" To Mistress R ." R ! It must be. R 

must mean — 

RAVENSBANE 

\_With passionate deference. '\ 
Rachel ! 

RACHEL 

Ah ! How you surprised me, my lord. 

RAVENSBANE 

You are come again ; you are come again. 

RACHEL 

Has anything happened } Tell me, my lord. Has 
Squire Talbot been here .-" 

RAVENSBANE 

No, Mistress Rachel ; not here. 



112 THE SCARECROW 



RACHEL 



And you have not — Oh, my lord, I have been in 

such terror. But you are safe. — You have not 

fought } 

RAVENSBANE 

No, Mistress Rachel ; not fought. 

RACHEL 

Thank God for that! But you will promise me — 
promise me that there shall be — no — duel ! 

RAVENSBANE 

I promise Mistress Rachel there shall be no duel. 

RACHEL 

Your lordship is so good. You do not know how 
gratefully happy I am. 

RAVENSBANE 
I know I am only a thing to make Mistress 
Rachel happy. Ah ! look at me once more. When 
you look at me, I live. 

RACHEL 

It is strange indeed, my lord, how the familiar 
world, the dayHght, the heavens themselves have 
changed since your arrival. 

RAVENSBANE 

This is the world ; this is the Hght ; this is the 
heavens themselves. Mistress Rachel is looking at 
me. 



THE SCARECROW II3 

RACHEL 

For me, it is less strange perhaps. I never saw a 
real lord before. But you, my lord, must have seen 
so many, many girls in the great world. 

RAVENSBANE 

No, no ; never. 

RACHEL 

No other girls before to-day, my lord ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Before to-day ? I do not know ; I do not care. I 
was not here. To-day I was born — in your eyes. 
Ah ! my brain whirls ! 

RACHEL 
\_Smiling.'\ 

" If witchcraft be a whirling brain, 
A roving eye, a heart of pain, — " 

[/« a whisper. '\ 

My lord, do you really believe in witchcraft ? 

RAVENSBANE 

With all my heart. 

RACHEL 

And approve of it } 

RAVENSBANE 

With all my soul. 

RACHEL 

So do I — that is, innocent witchcraft ; not to 
harm anybody, you know, but just to feel all the 



114 ^^^ SCARECROW 

dark mystery and the trembling excitement — the 
way you feel when you blow out your candle all 
alone in your bedroom and watch the little smoke 
fade away in the moonshine. 

ILWENSBANE 

Fade away in the moonshine ! 

RACHEL 

Oh, but we mustn't speak of it. In a town like 
this, all such mysticism is considered damnable. 
But your lordship understands and approves ? I am 
so glad ! Have you read the " Philosophical Con- 
siderations " of Glanville, the " Sadiicisniiis Trium- 
phatus,'' and the " Presignifications of Dreams".-' 
What kind of witchcraft, my lord, do you believe in } 

RAVENSBANE 

In all yours. 

RACHEL 

Nay, your lordship must not take me foi a real 

witch. I can only tell fortunes, you know — like 

this morning. 

RAVENSBANE 

I know ; you told how my heart would break. 

RACHEL 

Oh, that's palmistry, and that isn't always certain. 

But the surest way to prophesy — do you know 

what it is .-' 

RAVENSBANE 

Tell me. 



THE SCARECROW II5 

RACHEL 

To count the crows. Do you know how ? 
One for sorrow — 

RAVENSBANE 

Ha, yes ! — Two for mirth ! 

RACHEL 

Three for a wedding — 

RAVENSBANE 
Four for a birth — 

RACHEL 

And five for the happiest thing on earth ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel, come ! Let us go and count five 
crows. 

RACHEL 

\_Delightedly^ 

Why, my lord, how did yoit ever learn it ? I got it 
from an old goody here in town — a real witch-wife. 
If you will promise not to tell a secret, I will show 
you. — But you must promise ! 

RAVENSBANE 

I promise. 

RACHEL 

Come, then. I will show you a real piece of witch- 
craft that I bought from her this morning — the 
glass of truth. There ! Behind that curtain. If 



Il6 THE SCARECROW 

you look in, you will see — But come ; I will show 
you. 

\_They put their hands on the cords of the curtain^ 

Just pull that string, and — ah ! 

DICKON 
[^Stepping out th'ough the curtain.'] 
Your pipe, my lord ? 

RACHEL 
Master Dickonson, how you frightened me ! 

DICKON 

So excessively sorry ! I was observing the por- 
trait of your uncle. I believe you were showing his 
lordship — 

RACHEL 
\Turning hurriedly away.] 
Oh, nothing ; nothing at all. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Sterniy to Dickon.] 
Why do you come .'' 

DICKON 
\_Handing back Ravensbane^s pipe filled.] 

Allow me. 

\_Aside.] 

'Tis high time you came to the point, Jack ; 'tis 



THE SCARECROW WJ 

near your lordship's reception. Woo and win, boy ; 
woo and win. 

RAVENSBANE 

\^Haughtily.~\ 
Leave me. 

DICKON 

Your lordship's humble, very humble. 

RACHEL 
\_Shivering.'\ 

Oh ! he is gone. My dear lord, why do you keep 
this man ? 

RAVENSBANE 

I — keep this man .■' 

RACHEL 

I cannot — pardon my rudeness — I cannot en- 
dure him. 

RAVENSBANE 

You do not like him ? Ah, then, I do not like him 
also. We will send him away — you and I. 

RACHEL 

You, my lord, of course ; but I — 

RAVENSBANE 

You will be Dickon ! You will be with me always 
and light my pipe. And I will live for you, and 
fight for you, and kill your betrothed ! 



Il8 THE SCARECROW 

RACHEL 

\_D rawing away 7^ 
No, no ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah ! but your eyes say " yes.' Mistress Rachel 
leaves me; but Rachel in her eyes remains. Is it 
not so ? 

RACHEL 

What can I say, my lord ! It is true that since 
my eyes met yours, a new passion has entered into 
my soul. I have felt — your lordship will laugh at 
me — I have felt an inexpressible longing — but 'tis 
so impertinent, my lord, so absurd in me, a mere girl, 
and you a nobleman of power — yet I have felt it 
irresistibly, my dear lord, — a longing to help you. 
I am so sorry for you — so sorry for you ! I pity 
you deeply. — Forgive me ; forgive me, my lord ! 



It is enough. 



RAVENSBANE 



RACHEL 



Indeed, indeed, 'tis so rude of me, — 'tis so un- 
reasonable. 

RAVENSBANE 

It is enough. I grow — I grow — I grow ! I am 
a plant ; you give it rain and sun. I am a flower ; you 
give it light and dew ; I am a soul, you give it love 
and speech. I grow. Towards you — towards you 
I grow ! 

RACHEL 

My lord, I do not understand it, how so poor and 



THE SCARECROW II9 

mere a girl as I can have helped you. Yet I do be- 
lieve it is so ; for I feel it so. What can I do for you .-' 

RAVENSBANE 

Do not leave me. Be mine. Let me be yours. 

RACHEL 

Ah ! but, my lord — do I love you .-' 

RAVENSBANE 

What is " I love you " .? Is it a kiss, a sigh, an 
embrace .'' Ah ! then, you do not love me. — "I love 
you": is it to nourish, to nestle, to lift up, to smile 
upon, to make greater — a worm ? Ah ! then, you 
love me. 

\Enter Richard at left back, unobserved.'] 

RACHEL 

Do not speak so of yourself, my lord ; nor exalt me 
so falsely. 

RAVENSBANE 

Be mine. 

RACHEL 

A great glory has descended upon this day. 

RAVENSBANE 

Be mine. 

RACHEL 

Could I but be sure that this glory is love — Oh, 
then ! 

\Turns toward Ravensbane?\ 



120 THE SCARECROW 

RICHARD 

\_Stepping between them.'\ 
It is not love ; it is witchcraft. 

RACHEL 
Who are you ? — Richard ? 

RICHARD 

You have indeed forgotten me ? Would to God, 
Rachel, I could forget you. 

RAVENSBANE 

Sir, permit me — 

RICHARD 

Silence ! 

\_To Rachel.^ 

Against my will, I am a convert to your own mys- 
ticism ; for nothing less than damnable illusion could 
so instantly wean your heart from me to — this. I 
do not pretend to understand it ; but that it is witch- 
craft I am convinced ; and I will save you from it. 

RACHEL 

Go ; please go. 

RAVENSBANE 

Permit me, sir ; you have not replied yet to flails ! 

RICHARD 

Permit me, sir. 

\Taking something from his coat.~\ 

My answer is — bare cob ! 

\_Holding out a shelled corn- cob. ~\ 



THE SCARECROW 121 

Thresh this, sir, for your antagonist. 'Tis the only 
one worthy your lordship. 

\Tosses it contemptuously towards him.'\ 

RAVENSBANE 
Upon my honour, as a man — ■ 

RICHARD 

As a majt forsooth! Were you indeed a man. 

Lord Ravensbane, I would have accepted your 

weapons, and flailed you out of New England. But 

it is not my custom to chastise runagates from 

asylums, or to banter further words with a natural 

and a ninny. 

RACHEL 

Squire Talbot ! Will you leave my uncle's house ? 

RAVENSBANE 

One moment, mistress : — I did not wholly catch the 
import of this gentleman's speech, but I fancy I have 
insulted him by my reply to his challenge. One in- 
sult may perhaps be remedied by another. Sir, per- 
mit me to ca.\\j/ou a ninny, and to offer you — 

\^Drawing his sword and offering it.~\ 
swords. 

RICHARD 

Thanks ; I reject the offer. 

RAVENSBANE 
\Turning away despondently^ 
He rejects it. Well ! 



122 THE SCARECROW 

RACHEL 
\To Richard.'\ 
And now will you leave ? 

RICHARD 

At once. But one word more. Rachel — Rachel, 
have you forgotten this morning and the glass of 
truth ? 

RACHEL 

[ Coldly. "] 
No. 

RICHARD 

Call it a fancy now if you will. I scoffed at it ; 
yes. Yet yoic beUeved it. I loved you truly, you 
said. Well, have I changed .'' 

RACHEL 

Yes. 

RICHARD 
Will you test me again — in the glass } 

RACHEL 

No. Go ; leave us. 

RICHARD 

I will go. I have still a word with your aunt. 

RAVENSBANE 
[To Richard^ 

I beg your pardon, sir. You said just now that 
had I been a man — 



THE SCARECROW 1 23 

RICHARD 

I say, Lord Ravensbane, that the straight fibre of 
a true man never warps the love of a woman. As 
for yourself, you have my contempt and pity. Pray 
to God, sir, pray to God to make you a man. 

\Exit, right.'] 

RACHEL 

Oh ! it is intolerable ! 

[71? Ravensbane.] 

My dear lord, I do believe in my heart that I love 
you, and if so, I will with gratitude be your wife. 
But, my lord, strange glamours, strange darknesses 
reel, and bewilder my mind. I must be alone; I 
must think and decide. Will you give me this 
tassel } 

RAVENSBANE 
\Unfastening a silk tassel froin his coal a7id giving it to her.] 

Oh, take it. 

RACHEL 

If I decide that I love you, that I will be your wife 
— I will wear it this afternoon at the reception. 

Good-by . 

\Exit, right.] 

RAVENSBANE 

Mistress Rachel ! — 

[Solus.] 



124 ^^^ SCARECROW 

God, are you here ? Dear God, I pray to you — 
make me to be a man ! 

[Exit, left] 

DICKON 
[Appearing in the centre of the room.] 

Poor Jacky! Thou shouldst 'a' prayed to t'other 
one. 

[He disappears. Enter, right, Richard and Mistress 

Merton.] 

MISTRESS MERTON 
[Pointing to the wall.'] 
That is the portrait. 

RICHARD 

Indeed ! The design is very like. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

'Tis more than like, Richard ; 'tis the very same. 
Two and twenty years ago she embroidered it for 
him, and he would insist on wearing it for the por- 
trait he was then sitting for. 

RICHARD 

That same Goody Rickby ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

A pretty girl ! — and a wild young man was my 
brother. The truth comes hard to tell thee, Richard ; 



THE SCARECROW 125 

but he was wild, Gilead was wild. He told me the 
babe had died. But God worketh His own righteous- 
ness. Only — he must be saved now; Rachel must 
be saved ; we must all be saved. 

RICHARD 

You feel sure — very sure, Mistress Merton.' 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Yea, that waistcoat; 'tis the very one, I know it 
too well. And you see it accounts for all, — this 
silly impostor lord ; my brother's strange patronage 
of him ; the blackmail of this Master Dickonson — 

RICHARD 
But who is he ? 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Nay, heaven knows ! Some old crony perchance 
of Gilead's youth ; some confederate of this woman 
Rickby. 

RICHARD 

O God ! — And Rachel sacrificed to these im- 
postors ; to an illegitimate — your brother would 
allow it ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Ah ! but think of his own reputation, Richard. 
He a justice — the family honour! 

RICHARD 

'Tis enough. Well, and I must see this Goody 
Rickby, you think? 



126 THE SCARECROW 

MISTRESS MERTON 

At once — at once. My brother has invited guests 
for this afternoon to meet " his lordship " ! Return, 
if possible, before they come. She dwells at the 
blacksmith shop — you must buy her off. Oh, gold 
will buy her ; 'tis the gold they're after — all of them ; 
have her recall both these persons. 
\Givmg a purse ^ 
Take her that, Richard, and promise her more. 

RICHARD 

\Proudly?[ 
Keep it. Mistress Merton. I have enough gold, me- 
thinks, for my future wife's honour ; or if not, I will 
earn it. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Richard ! Ah, the dear lad, he should have taken 

it. 

{Enter Micah,] 

MICAH 

The minister and his wife have turned into the 
gate, madam. 

MISTRESS MERTON 

The guests ! Is it so late ? 

MICAH 

Four o'clock, madam. 

[Going to the table!] 
Shall I remove these ? 



THE SCARECROW 12/ 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Flails ! Flails in the parlour ? Of course, remove 
them. 

MICAH 
\_At the door?\ 

Madam, in all my past years of service at Merton 
House, I never waited upon a lord till to-day. 
Madam, in all my future years of service at Merton 
House, I trust I may never wait upon a lord again. 

MISTRESS MERTON 
Micah, mind the knocker. 

MICAH 

Yes, madam. 

\Exit at left back. Sounds of a brass knocker outside. "[ 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Rachel ! Rachel ! 
[^Exit, right Enter, left, Justice Merton and Dickon.] 

JUSTICE MERTON 

So you are contented with nothing less than the 
sacrifice of my niece .'' 

DICKON 
Such a delightful room ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Are you merciless ? 



128 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

And such a living portrait of your worship ! The 
waistcoat is so beautifully executed. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
If I pay him ten thousand pounds — 
{Enter Micah,] 

MICAH 

Minister Dodge, your worship ; and Mistress 
Dodge. 

\Exit. Enter the Minister and his Wife.] 

JUSTICE MERTON 

[Stepping forward to receive theni?\ 

Believe me, this is a great privilege. — Madam ! 

\BowingI\ 

MINISTER DODGE 
\Taking his hand.] 

The privilege is ours, Justice ; to enter a righteous 
man's house is to stand, as it were, on God's threshold. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
[Nervozisly.] 

Amen, amen. Permit me — ah ! Lord Ravens- 
bane, my young guest of honour, will be here directly 
— permit me to present his lordship's tutor, Master 



THE SCARECROW 1 29 

Dickonson ; The Reverend Master Dodge, Mistress 
Dodge. 

MINISTER DODGE 
[ Offering his handi] 
Master Dickonson, sir — 

DICKON 

\_Barely touching the minister's fi?igers, bows chantiingly to 
his wife.'\ 

Madam, of all professions in the world, your hus- 
band's most allures me. 

MISTRESS DODGE 
'Tis a worthy one, sir. , 

DICKON 

Ah ! Mistress Dodge, and so arduous — especially 
for a minister's wife. 

[Zr<f leads her to a chair."] 

MISTRESS DODGE 

[Accepting the chair.] 
Thank you. 

MINISTER DODGE 

Lord Ravensbane comes from abroad ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 
From London. 

MINISTER DODGE 

An old friend of yours, I understand. 

K 



130 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 

From London, yes. Did I say from London ? 
Quite so ; from London. 

[Enter Micah.] 

MICAH 

Captain Bugby, the Governor's secretary. 

[Exit. Enter Captain Bugby. He walks with a slight 
lameness, and holds daintily in his hand a pipe, from 
which he puffs with dandy deliberatioii?^ 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Justice Merton, your very humble servant. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Believe me, Captain Bugby. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
[Profusely^^ 

Ah, Master Dickonson ! my dear friend Master 
Dickonson^this is indeed — ah! How is his lord- 
ship since — aha ! but discretion ! Mistress Dodge 
— her servant ! Ah ! yes, 

[Indicating his pipe with a smile of satisfaction?^ 

the latest, I assure you ; the very latest from London. 
Ask Master Dickonson. 

MINISTER DODGE 
[Looking at Captain Bugby ?\ 
These will hatch out in the springtime. 



THE SCARECROW 13I 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
\Confidentiany to Dickon^ 

But really, my good friend, may not I venture to 
inquire how his lordship — ah ! has been in health 
since the — ah ! since — 

DICKON 
\I}npressivelyI\ 
Oh ! quite, quite ! 

\Enter Mistress Merton; she joins Justice Merton and 
Minister Dodge^ 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

You know, I informed Squire Talbot of his lord- 
ship's epigrammatic retort — his retort of — shh ! ha 
haha ! Oh, that reply was a stiletto ; 'twas sharper 
than a sword-thrust, I assure you. To have con- 
ceived it — 'twas inspiration ; but to have expressed 
it — oh ! 'twas genius. Hush ! " Flails ! " Oh ! 
It sticks me now in the ribs. I shall die with con- 
cealing it. 

MINISTER DODGE 
\_To Mistress Merton^ 

'Tis true, mistress ; but if there were more like 
your brother in the parish, the conscience of the 
community would be clearer. 

\_Enter Micah.] 



132 THE SCARECROW 



MICAH 



The Reverend Master Rand of Harvard College ; 
the Reverend Master Todd of Harvard College. 

\_Exit. Enter two elderly, straight-backed dwines7\ 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Greeting them.'\ 

Permit me, gentlemen ; this is fortunate — before 
your return to Cambridge. 

\_He conducts them to Mistress Merton and Minister Dodge, 
centre. Seated left, Dickon is ingratiating himself 
with Mistress Dodge; Captain Biigby, laughed at by 
both parties, is received by neither. ~\ 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
\Puffing smoke toward the ceiling.'] 

Really, I cannot understand what keeps his Ex- 
cellency, the Lieutenant Governor, so long. He has 
two such charming daughters. Master Dickonson — 

DICKON 

\_To Mistress Dodge. ~\ 

Yes, yes ; such suspicious women with their charms 
are an insult to the virtuous ladies of the parish. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

How, sir ! 

MISTRESS DODGE 

And to think that she should actually shoe horses 
herself ! 



THE SCARECROW 1 33 

DICKON 

It is too hard, dear Mistress Dodge ; too hard ! 

MISTRESS DODGE 

You are so appreciative, Master Dickonson. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

\_Piqued, walks another ■way.'] 
Well! 

REV. MASTER RAND 
'[To Justice Merton.] 

It would not be countenanced in the college yard, 

sir. 

REV. MASTER TODD 

A pipe ! Nay, mores inhibitac ! 
JUSTICE MERTON 

'Tis most unfortunate, gentlemen ; but I under- 
stand 'tis the new vogue in London. 

\_Enter MiCAH.] 

MICAH 

His Excellency, Sir Charles Reddington, Lieu- 
tenant Governor ; the Mistress Reddingtons. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

At last ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

\_Aside^ 
Micah. 

\_Micah goes to her. Enter Sir Charles, Mistress Red- 
dington, and Amelia Reddington.] 



134 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Your Excellency, this is indeed a distinguished 
honour. 

SIR CHARLES 
\_Shaking hajidsJ] 
Fine weather, Merton. Where's your young lord ? 

THE TWO GIRLS 
[ Coiirtesyijig.'\ 
Justice Merton, Mistress Merton. 

MICAH 
\_To Mistress Merton, as he is going out, rightJ] 
I will speak to them, madam. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Oh, my dear Mistress Reddington ! Charming 
Mistress Amelia ! You are so very late, but you 
shall hear — hush ! 

MISTRESS REDDINGTON 
\Noticing his pipe. "^ 

Why, what is this. Captain ? 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Oh, the latest, I assure you, the very latest. Wait 
till you see his lordship. 



THE SCARECROW 1 35 

AMELIA 

What ! isn't he here ? 

\_Laughing^ 
La, Captain ! Do look at the man ! 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Oh, he's coming directly. Quite the mode — 
what ? Ah ! but, ladies, you shall hear. 

\He talks to them aside, where they titter.'] 

SIR CHARLES 
\_To Dickon.'] 
What say ? Travelling for his health .-' 

DICKON 

Partially, your Excellency ; but my young pupil and 
master is a singularly affectionate nature. 

THE TWO GIRLS 
[^To Captain Bugby.] 
What! ilails — really ! 

\_They burst into laughter among themselves.'] 

DICKON 

He has journeyed here to Massachusetts peculiarly 
to pay this visit to Justice Merton — his father's 
dearest friend. 

SIR CHARLES 

Ah ! knew him abroad, eh } 



136 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

In Rome, your Excellency. 

MISTRESS DODGE 
[ To Justice MertonJ] 
Why, I thought it was in London. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

London, true, quite so ; we made a trip together to 
Lisbon — ah ! Rome. 

DICKON 

Paris, was it not, sir ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\^In great distress.'] 

Paris, Paris, very true ; I am — I am — sometimes 
I am — 

\_Enter Micah, right.] 

MICAH 
\_Announces.'\ 
Lord Ravensbane. 

\^Enter right, Ravensbane with Rachel.] 

JUSTICE MERTON 

[ With a gasp of relief.] 

Ah ! his lordship is arrived. 

^^Murmurs of '■'his lordship " and a flutter among the girls 
and Captain Bugby.] 



THE SCARECROW 1 3/ 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Look ! — Now ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Welcome, my lord ! 

\_To Sir Charles r\ 
Permit me, your Excellency, to introduce — 

RAVENSBANE 

Permit me ; Mistress Rachel will introduce — 

RACHEL 

^^Courtesyingr^ 

Sir Charles, allow me to present my friend, Lord 

Ravensbane. 

MISTRESS REDDINGTON 

\_Aside to Amelia.'\ 
"^QX friend — did you hear? 

SIR CHARLES 

Mistress Rachel, I see you are as pretty as ever. 
Lord Ravensbane, your hand, sir. 

RAVENSBANE 

Trust me, your Excellency, I will inform his 
Majesty of your courtesy. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 
[ Watching Ravensbane with chagrin.'\ 
On my life ! he's lost his limp. 



138 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 
\Apart to Rachel.'] 
"A great glory has descended upon this day." 

RACHEL 

[.Shyly.-] 
My lord ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Be sure — O mistress, be sure — that this glory is 
love. 

SIR CHARLES 
[ Watching the two, whispers a loud aside to Justice Merton.] 
Hoho ! is it congratulations for your niece .'' 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Not — not precisely. 

DICKON 
{^Aside to Justice Merton.] 
Why so, Gilly .? 

SIR CHARLES 

My daughters, Fanny and Amelia — Lord Ravens- 
bane. 

THE TWO GIRLS 

\_Cotirtesying.] 
Your lordship ! 

SIR CHARLES 

Good girls, but silly. 

THE TWO GIRLS 



Papa 



THE SCARECROW 139 

RAVENSBANE 

Believe me, ladies, with the true sincerity of the 
heciyt. 

MISTRESS REDDINGTON 

Isn't he perfection ! 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

What said I ? 

AMELIA 
{_Giggling.'\ 
I can't help thinking of flails. 

MISTRESS REDDINGTON 

Poor Squire Talbot! We must be nice to him 
now. 

AMELIA 

Oh, especially now ! 

RAVENSBANE 

\_Whom Rachel continues to introduce to the guests; to 
Master Rand."] 

Verily, sir, as that prince of poets, the immortal 
Virgil, has remarked : 

" Adeo in teneris consuescere multum est." 

DICKON 
Just a word, your worship. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Going with him.~\ 
Intolerable ! 



140 THE SCARECROW 

REV. MASTER TODD 

His lordship is evidently a university man. 

REV. MASTER RAND 

Evidently most accomplished. 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\_Aside to Dickon.~\ 

A song ! Why, it is beyond all bounds of custom 
and decorum. 

DICKON 

Believe me, there is no such flatterer to win the 
maiden heart as music. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

And here ; in this presence ! Never ! 

DICKON 

Nevertheless, it will amuse me vastly, and you will 
announce it. 

RAVENSBANE 

\_To Minister Dodge. "] 

My opinion is simple : In such matters of church 
government, I am inchned toward the leniency of 
that excellent master, the Rev. John Wise, rather than 
the righteous obduracy of the Rev. Cotton Mather. 



THE SCARECROW I4I 

MINISTER DODGE 
Why, there, sir, I agree with you. 

\_Aside to his wife.'\ 
How extremely well informed ! 

MISTRESS DODGE 
And so young, too ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 
[ With hesitant embarrassment, which he seeks to conceal.'] 

Your Excellency and friends, I have great pleasure 
in announcing his lordship's condescension in con- 
senting to regale our present company — with a song. 

SEVERAL VOICES 

\_In various degrees of amazement atid curiosity. ] 

A song ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

Gilead ! What is this ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

The selection is a German ballad — a particular 
favourite at the court of Prussia, where his lordship last 
rendered it. His tutor has made a translation which 
is entitled: "The Prognostication of the Crows," and 
I am requested to remind you that in the ancient 
heathen mythology of Germany, the crow or raven, 
was the fateful bird of the God Woden. 



142 THE SCARECROW 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

How prodigiously novel ! 

MINISTER DODGE 
\Fro'wning^ 
Unparalleled ! 

SIR CHARLES 

A ballad ! Come now, that sounds like old Eng- 
land again. Let's have it. Will his lordship sing 
without music ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Master Dickonson, hem! has been — persuaded — 
to accompany his lordship on the virginals. 

AMELIA 

How delightful! 

REV. MASTER RAND 
\_Aside to Todd.'\ 
Shall we remain .-' 

REV. MASTER TODD 

We must. 

RAVENSBANE 
[ Jb Rachel^ 
My tassel, dear mistress ; you do not wear it } 

RACHEL 

My heart still wavers, my lord. But whilst you 
sing, I will decide. 



THE SCARECROW 1 43 

RAVENSBANE 

Whilst I sing ? My fate, then, is waiting at the 
end of a song ? 

RACHEL 
At the end of a song. 

DICKON 
\Touches Ravensbane' s arm."] 
Your lordship. 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Starttng, turns to the company.'] 
Permit me. 

\_Dickon sits, facing left, at the virginals. At first, his fingers 
in playing give sound only to the soft tinkling notes of 
that ancie?it instrument ; but gradually, strange notes 
and harmonies of an aerial orchestra mingle with, and 
at length drow7i, the virginals. The final chorus is 
produced solely by fantastic symphonic cawings, as of 
countless crows, in haj-sh but 7nusical accord. Duritig 
the song Richard enters. Dickon'' s mtisic, however, does 
not cease but fills the intervals between the verses. To 
his accompajiinient, amid the whispered and gradually 
increasing wojider, resentme?it, and dismay of the assem- 
bled guests, Ravensbane, ivith his eyes fixed upon Rachel, 
sings.] 

Baron von Rabenstod arose ; 

(The golden sun was rising) 
Before him flew a flock of crows : 

Sing heigh! Sing heigh ! Sing heigh ! Sing — 



144 THE SCARECROW 

" 111 speed, ill speed thee, baron-wight ; 

111 speed thy palfrey pawing ! 
Blithe is the morn but black the night 

That hears a raven's cawing." 

[ Chorus^ 
Caw ! Caw ! Caw ! 

MISTRESS DODGE 
\Whispers to her husband.'\ 
Did you hear them ? 

MINISTER DODGE 

Hush! 

AMELIA 

\Sotto voce^ 
What can it be ? 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Oh, the latest, be sure. 

DICKON 

You note, my friends, the accompanying harmonics ; 
they are an intrinsic part of the ballad, and may not 
be omitted. 

RAVESNBANE 
\Sings.'\ 

The baron recked not a pin ; 

(For the golden sun was rising) 
He rode to woo, he rode to win ; 

Sing heigh ! Sing heigh ! Sing heigh ! Sing — 



THE SCARECROW 1 45 

He rode into his prince's hall 

Through knights and damsels flow'ry : 

" Thy daughter, prince, I bid thee call ; 
I claim her hand and dowry." 

\_Enter Richard. Mistress Mertoii seizes his arm nervously.'\ 

MISTRESS MERTON 

\_Asi(ie^ 
Well ? 

RICHARD 

Gold will not buy her. She defies us. 

SIR CHARLES 
\To Captain Bitgby.'] 
This gentleman's playing is rather ventriloquistical. 

CAPTAIN BUGBY 

Quite, as it were. 

REV. MASTER TODD 

This smells unholy. 

REV. MASTER RAND 

[To Todd.'] 
Shall we leave .'' 

JUSTICE MERTON 

\_Sternfy to Richard, who has attempted to talk with him 
aside. 1 
Not now. 



146 THE SCARECROW 

RICHARD 

Pardon me — it must be now. 



JUSTICE MERTON 
Squire Talbot — 

RICHARD 
\_Very low-l 
Sir — I come from Goody Rickby. 



Hush! 



JUSTICE MERTON 
l^They go apart.'] 



RAVENSBANE 
[Sings-I 

" What cock is this, with crest so high, 

That crows with such a pother?" 
"Baron von Rabenstod am I; 

Methinks we know each other." 
" Now welcome, welcome, dear guest of mine, 

So long why didst thou tarry ? 
Now, for the sake of auld lang syne, 

My daughter thou shalt marry." 

JUSTICE MERTON 
[To Richard.] 
Spare me, I am helpless. 



THE SCARECROW I47 

RICHARD 

What ! you will sacrifice her ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

What can I do ? 

RICHARD 

Tell her the truth at least. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Never, Richard, no, no, never that ! 

AMELIA 

And he kept right on smoking! 

MINISTER DODGE 
[ Who, with Rand and Todd, has risen uneasily.'] 
This smacks of witchcraft. 

REV. MASTER RAND 

The Justice seems moved. 

RAVENSBANE 

[Sings.'] 

The bride is brought, the priest as well ; 

(The golden sun was passing) 
They stood beside the altar rail ; 

Sing ah ! Sing ah ! Sing ah ! Sing — 



148 THE SCARECROW 

" Woman, with this ring I thee wed." 
What makes his voice so awing? 

The baron by the bride is dead : 
Outside the crows were cawing. 

C/toms. 

[ Which grows tumultuous, seemmg to fill the room with the 
invisible birds^ 

Caw! Caw! Caw! 

\The guests rise in confusion. Dickon still plays delightedly, 
and the strange music continues^ 

MINISTER DODGE 

This is no longer godly. — Justice Merton! 

RICHARD 
\To Justice Merton^ 

I told you, sir, that witchcraft, like murder, will out. 
If you want further proof, I believe I can provide it. 

MINISTER DODGE 

Justice Merton, sir ! 

RAVENSBANE 
[ To Rachel, who holds his tassel in her hand.'] 
Ah ! and you have my tassel ! 

RACHEL 

See ! I will wear it now. You yourself shall 
fasten it. 



THE SCARECROW 1 49 

RAVENSBANE 

Rachel ! Mistress ! 

RACHEL 
My dear lord ! 

\As Ravensbane is placing the silken tassel on RachePs breast 
to fasten it there, Richard^ by the mirror, pulls the cur- 
tain back.l 

RICHARD 

Lovers ! This is the glass of truth. Behold your- 
selves ! 

RACHEL 

[Zooking into the glass, screams and turns her gaze fearfully 
■upon Ravensbanei\ 

Ah! Do not look! 

DICKON 

[ Who, having tur7ied rouftd f-om the virginals, has leapt 
forward, fiow turns back again, biting his finger.'] 

Too late ! 

\_In the glass are reflected the figures of Rachel and Ravensbane 
— Rachel fust as she herself appears, but Ravensbane 
in his essential form of a scarecrow, in every movement 
refiecti?ig Ravensbane' s motions. The thing in the glass 
is about to pin a wisp of corn-silk on the mirrored breast 
of the maiden.] 

RAVENSBANE 

What is there ? 

RACHEL 
[^Looking again, starts away from Ravensbane^ 
Leave me ! Leave me ! — Richard ! 



150 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 
[ Gazing at the glass ^ clings to Rachel as though to protect her. ] 
Help her ! See ! It is seizing her. 

RACHEL 

Richard ! 

\She faints in Richard's arms."] 

RAVENSBANE 

Fear not, mistress, I will kill the thing. 

[^Drawing his sword, he rushes at the glass. Within, the 
scarecrow, with a drawn wheel-spoke, approaches him 
at equal speed. They cojne face to face and recoil.'\ 

Ah ! ah ! fear'st thou me ? What art thou ? Why, 
'tis a glass. Thou mockest me 1 Look, look, mis- 
tress, it mocks me ! O God, no ! no ! Take it away. 
Dear God, do not look ! — It is I ! 

ALL 

\_Rushing to the doors.'] 
Witchcraft ! Witchcraft ! 

\_As Ravensbane stands frantically confronting his abject re- 
flection, struck in a like posture of despair, the curtain 
falls.] 



ACT IV 



ACT IV 

The same. Night. The moon, shining in broadly at the 
window, discovers Ravensbane alone, prostrate befo)-e 
the mirror. Raised oji one arm to a half-sitting posture, 
he gazes fixedly at the vaguely seen image of the scare- 
crow prostrate in the glass. 

RAVENSBANE 

All have left me — but not thou. Rachel has left 
me ; her eyes have turned away from me ; she is 
gone. And with her, the great light itself from 
heaven has drawn her glorious skirts, contemptuous, 
from me — and they are gone together. Dickon, he 
too has left me — but not thou. All that I loved, all 
that loved me, have left me. A thousand ages — a 
thousand ages ago, they went away ; and thou and I 
have gazed upon each other's desertedness. Speak ! 
and be pitiful ! If thou art I, inscrutable image, if 
thou dost feel these pangs thine own, show then self- 
mercy ; speak ! What art thou ? What am I ? Why 
are we here ? How comes it that we feel and guess 
and suffer? Nay, though thou answer not these 
doubts, yet mock them, mock them aloud, even as 
there, monstrous, thou counterfeitest mine actions. 
Speak, abject enigma ! — Ah ! with what vacant horror 
it looks out and yearns toward me. Peace to thee ! 

153 



154 ^^^ SCARECROW 

Thou poor delirious mute, prisoned in glass and 
moonlight, peace ! Thou canst not escape thy gaol, 
nor I break in to thee. Poor shadow, thou — 

[Recoiling wildly. '\ 

Stand back, inanity ! Thrust not thy mawkish face 
in pity toward me. Ape and idiot ! Scarecrow ! — 
to console me ! Haha ! — A flail and broomstick ! a 
cob, a gourd and pumpkin, to fuse and sublimate 
themselves into a mage-philosopher, who puffeth 
metaphysics from a pipe and discourseth sweet phi- 
lanthropy to itself — itself, God ! Dost Thou hear t 
Itself ! For even such am I — I whom Thou madest 
to love Rachel. Why, God — haha ! dost Thou dwell 
in this thing ? Is it Thou that peerest forth at me — 
from me .'' Why, hark then ; Thou shalt hsten, and 
answer — if Thou canst. Hark then. Spirit of life ! 
Between the rise and setting of a sun, I have walked 
in this world of Thine. I have gazed upon it, I have 
peered within it, I have grown enamoured, enamoured 
of it. I have been thrilled with wonder, I have been 
calmed with knowledge, I have been exalted with 
sympathy. I have trembled with joy and passion. 
Power, beauty, love have ravished me. Infinity it- 
self, like a dream, has blazed before me with the 
certitude of prophecy ; and I have cried, " This 
world, the heavens, time itself, are mine to conquer," 
and I have thrust forth mine arm to wear Thy shield 
forever — and lo ! for my shield Thou reachest me a 
mirror — and whisperest : " Know thyself ! Thou art 
— a scarecrow : a tinkling clod, a rigmarole of dust, 



THE SCARECROW I 55 

a lump of ordure, contemptible, superfluous, inane ! " 
Haha! Hahaha! And with such scarecrows Thou 
dost people a planet! O ludicrous! Monstrous! Ludi- 
crous ! At least, I thank Thee, God ! at least, 
this breathing bathos can laugh at itself. At least 
this hotch-potch nobleman of stubble is enough of 
an epicure to turn his own gorge. Thou hast vouch- 
safed to me, Spirit, — hahaha ! — to know myself. 
Mine, mine is the consummation of man — even self- 
contempt ! 

\_Pointing in the glass with an agony of derision^ 

Scarecrow ! Scarecrow ! Scarecrow ! 

THE IMAGE IN THE GLASS 

\More and more faintly .'\ 

Scarecrow ! Scarecrow ! Scarecrow I 

\_Ravensbane throws himself prone upon the floor, beneath the 
window, sobbing. There is a pause of silence, and the 
moon shines blighter. — Slowly then Ravensbane, getting 
to his knees, looks out into the night.'\ 

RAVENSBANE 

What face are you, high up through the twinkling 
leaves .'' Why do you smile upon me with such white 
beneficence ? Or why do you place your viewless 
hand upon my brow, and say, " Be comforted " ? Do 
you not, like all the rest, turn, aghast, your eyes away 
from me — me, abject enormity, grovelling at your 
feet ? Gracious being, do you not fear — despise me ? 
To you alone am I not hateful — unredeemed .-' 



156 THE SCARECROW 

white peace of the world, beneath your gaze the 
clouds glow silver, and the herded cattle, slumbering 
far afield, crouch — beautiful. The slough shines lus- 
trous as a bridal veil. Beautiful face, you are Rachel's, 
and you have changed the world. Nothing is mean, 
but you have made it miraculous ; nothing is loath- 
some, nothing ludicrous, but you have converted it to 
loveliness, that even this shadow of a mockery my- 
self, cast by your light, gives me the dear assurance 

1 am a man. Yea, more, that I too, steeped in your 
universal light, am beautiful. For you are Rachel, 
and you love me. You are Rachel in the sky, and 
the might of your serene loveliness has transformed 
me. Rachel, mistress, mother, beautiful spirit, out 
of my suffering you have brought forth my soul. I 
am saved ! 

THE IMAGE IN THE GLASS 
A very pretty sophistry. 
\_The 7noonlight grows dimmer, as at the passing of a cloud.'\ 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah ! what voice has snatched you from me .-' 

THE IMAGE 

A most poetified pumpkin ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Thing ! dost thou speak at last .-' My soul abhors 
thee. 

THE IMAGE 
I am thy soul. 



THE SCARECROW 1 57 

RAVENSBANE 

Thou liest. 

THE IMAGE 

Our Daddy Dickon and our mother Rickby begot 
and conceived us at sunrise, in a Jack-o'-lantern. 

RAVENSBANE 

Thou liest, torturing illusion. Thou art but a phan- 
tom in a glass. 

THE IMAGE 

Why, very true. So art thou. We are a pretty 
phantom in a glass. 

RAVENSBANE 

It is a lie. I am no longer thou. I feel it ; I am 
a man. 

THE IMAGE 

And prithee, what's a man ? Man's but a mirror, 
Wherein the imps and angels play charades. 
Make faces, mope, and pull each other's hair — 
Till crack ! the sly urchin Death shivers the glass, 
And the bare coffin boards show underneath. 

RAVENSBANE 

Yea ! if it be so, thou coggery ! if both of us be in- 
deed but illusions, why, now let us end together. But 
if it be not so, then let me for evermore be free of 
thee. Now is the test — the glass ! 

\_Springing to the fireplace, he seizes an iron cross-piece from 
the andirons.'] 



158 THE SCARECROW 

I'll play your urchin Death and shatter it. Let 
see what shall survive ! 

\_He rushes to strike the glass with the iron. Dickon steps 
out of the mirror, closing the curtain.'\ 

DICKON 
I wouldn't, really ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Dickon ! dear Dickon ! is it you ? 

DICKON 

Yes, Jacky ! it's dear Dickon, and I really wouldn't. 

RAVENSBANE 

Wouldn't what, Dickon ? 

DICKON 

Sweep the cobwebs off the sky with thine aspiring 
broomstick. When a man questions fate, 'tis bad di- 
gestion. When a scarecrow does it, 'tis bad taste. 

RAVENSBANE 

At last, yoit will tell me the truth, Dickon ! Am I 
then — that thing .? 

DICKON 

You mustn't be so sceptical. Of course you're 
that thing. 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah me despicable ! Rachel, why didst thou ever 
look upon me ? 



THE SCARECROW 159 

DICKON 

I fear, cobby, thou hast never studied woman's 
heart and hero-worship. Take thyself now. I re- 
marked to Goody Bess, thy mother, this morning, as 
I was chucking her thy pate from the hay-loft, that 
thou wouldst make a Mark Antony or an Alexander 
before night. 

RAVENSBANE 

Thou, then, didst create me ! 

DICKON 
\_B owing. ] 

Appreciate the honour. Your lordship was de- 
signed for a corn-field ; but I discerned nobler poten- 
tialities : the courts of Europe and Justice Merton's 
salon. In brief, your lordship's origins were pas- 
toral, like King David's. 

RAVENSBANE 

Cease ! cease ! in pity's name. You do not know 
the agony of being ridiculous. 

DICKON 

Nay, Jacky, all mortals are ridiculous. Like you, 
they were rummaged out of the muck ; and like you, 
they shall return to the dunghill I advise 'em, like 
you, to enjoy the interim, and smoke. 

RAVENSBANE 

This pipe, this ludicrous pipe that I forever set 
to my lips and puff ! Why must I, Dickon } Why t 



l60 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

To avoid extinction — merely. You see, 'tis just as 
your fellow in there 

[Pointing to the glass.'] 

explained. You yourself are the subtlest of mirrors, 
polished out of pumpkin and pipe- smoke. Into this 
mirror the fair Mistress Rachel has projected her 
lovely image, and thus provided you with what men 
call a soul. 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah! then, I have a soul — the truth of me? Mis- 
tress Rachel has indeed made me a man ? 

DICKON 

Don't flatter thyself, cobby. Break thy pipe, and 
whiff — soul, Mistress Rachel, man, truth, and this 
pretty world itself, go up in the last smoke. 

RAVENSBANE 

No, no ! not Mistress Rachel — for she is beautiful ; 
and the images of beauty are immutable. She told 
me so. 

DICKON 

What a Platonic young lady ! Nevertheless, believe 
me. Mistress Rachel exists for your lordship merely 
in your lordship's pipe-bowl. 

RAVENSBANE 

Wretched, niggling caricature that I am ! All is 
lost to me — all ! 



THE SCARECROW l6l 



DICKON 



" Paradise Lost " again ! Always blaming it on me. 
There's that gaunt fellow in England has lately wrote 
a parody on me when I was in the apple business. 

RAVENSBANE 

\FaUing on his knees and botving his head^ 

O God ! I am so contemptible ! 

\Enter, at door back, Goody Rickbv ; her blacksmith garb 
is hidden under a dingy black mantle with peaked hoodi] 

DICKON 

Good verse, too, for a parody ! 

[Ruminating, raises one arm rhetorically above Ravensbane.'] 

" Farewell, happy fields 
Where joy forever dwells! Hail, horrors; hail. 
Infernal world ! and thou, profoundest Hell, 
Receive thy new possessor." 

GOODY RICKEY 

[Seizing his arm.'j 
Dickon ! 

DICKON 

Hullo ! You, Bess ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

There's not a minute to lose. Justice Merton and 
the neighbours have ended their conference at Min- 
ister Dodge's, and are returning here. 

M 



1 62 THE SCARECROW 



DICKON 



What ! coming back in the dark ? They ran away 
in the daylight as if the ghosts were after 'em. 

GOODY RICKEY 
\At the window^ 
I see their lanterns down the road. 

DICKON 

Well, let 'em come. We're ready. 

GOODY RICKEY 

But thou toldst me they had discovered — 

DICKON 

A scarecrow in a mirror. Well? The glass is 
bewitched ; that's all. 

GOODY RICKEY 

All ? Witchcraft is hanging — that's all ! Come, 
how shall the mirror help us ? 

DICKON 

'Tis very simple. The glass is bewitched. Mistress 
Rachel — mind you — shall admit it. She bought it 
of you. 

GOODY RICKEY 

Yea, of me ; 'twill be me they'll hang. 

DICKON 

Good ! then the glass is bewitched. The glass 
bewitches the room ; for witchcraft is catching and 



THE SCARECROW 163 

spreads like the small-pox. Ergo, the distorted image 
of Lord Ravensbane ; ergo, the magical accompani- 
ments of the ballad ; ergo, the excited fancies of all 
the persons in the room. Ergo, the glass must needs 
be destroyed, and the room thoroughly disinfected by 
the Holy Scriptures. Ergo, Master Dickonson him- 
self reads the Bible aloud, the guests apologize and 
go home, the Justice squirms again in his merry dead 
past, and his fair niece is wed to the pumpkin. 

RAVENSBANE 

Hideous ! Hideous ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

Your grateful servant, Devil ! But the mirror was 
bought of me — of me, the witch. Wilt thou be my 
hangman, Dickon .-' 

DICKON 

Wilt thou give me a kiss. Goody } When did ever 
thy Dickon desert thee } 

GOODY RICKEY 

But how, boy, wilt thou — 

DICKON 

Trust me, and thy son. When the Justice's niece 
is thy daughter-in-law, all will be safe. For the Jus- 
tice will cherish his niece's family. 

GOODY RICKEY 

But when he knows — 



1 64 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

But he shall not know. How can he ? When the 
glass is denounced as fraudulent, how will he, or any 
person, ever know that we made this fellow out of 
rubbish ? Who, forsooth, but a poet — or a devil — 
would believe it ? You mustn't credit men with our 
imaginations, my dear. 

RAVENSBANE 

Mockery ! Always mockery ! 

GOODY RICKEY 

Then thou wilt pull me through this safe .'' 

DICKON 

As I adore thee — and my own reputation. 

GOODY RICKEY 
[Hurrying away.J 
Till we meet, then, boy. 

DICKON 

Stay, marchioness — his lordship ! 

GOODY RICKEY 
[Turm'ng.'] 

His lordship's pardon ! How fares " the bottom of 
thy heart," my son } 

DICKON 
My lord — your lady mother. 



THE SCARECROW 1 65 

RAVENSBANE 

Begone, woman. 

GOODY RICKEY 
[ Courtesying, laughs shrilly.'\ 
Your servant — my son ! 

\_About to depart'^ 

RAVENSBANE 

Ye lie ! Both of you ! Ye lie — I was born of 

Rachel. 

DICKON 

Tut, tut, Jacky ; you mustn't mix up mothers and 
prospective wives at your age. It's fatal. 

GOODY RICKEY 

\_Excitedly.'\ 
They're coming ! 

[^ExitJ} 

DICKON 
[ Calling after her!\ 
Fear not; if thou shouldst be followed, I will over- 
take thee. 

RAVENSBANE 

She is coming ; Rachel is coming, and I may not 

look upon her ! 

DICKON 

Eh .? Why not ? 

RAVENSBANE 
I am a monster. 



1 66 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 

And born of her — Fie ! fie ! 

RAVENSBANE 

O God ! I know not ; I mock myself ; I know 
not what to think. But this I know, I love Rachel. 
I love her, I love her. 

DICKON 

And shalt have her. 

RAVENSBANE 
Have her, Dickon } 

DICKON 

For lover and wife, 

RAVENSBANE 

For wife .-' 

DICKON 

For wife and all. Thou hast but to obey. 

RAVENSBANE 

Ah ! who will do this for me } 
DICKON 

I! 

RAVENSBANE 

Dickon ! Wilt make me a man — a man and 

worthy of her.? 

DICKON 

Fiddlededee ! I make over no masterpieces. Thy 
mistress shall be Cinderella, and drive to her palace 
with her gilded pumpkin. 



THE SCARECROW 1 67 

RAVENSBANE 
It is the end. 

DICKON 

What ! You'll not ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Never. 

DICKON 

Harkee, manikin. Hast thou learned to suffer .'' 

RAVENSBANE 

\Wnnging his hands."] 
OGod! 

DICKON 

/ taught thee. Shall I teach thee further ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Thou canst not. 

DICKON 

Cannot — ha! What if I should teach Rachel 
too.? 

RAVENSBANE 

Rachel ! — Ah ! now I know thee. 

DICKON 

[Bowing.l 
Flattered. 

RAVENSBANE \ 

Devil ! Thou wouldst not torment Rachel ? 

DICKON 



Not if my lord — 



1 68 THE SCARECROW 

RAVENSBANE 

Speak ! What must I do ? 

DICKON 

Not speak. Be silent, my lord, and acquiesce to 
all I say. 

RAVENSBANE 

I will be silent. 

DICKON 
And acquiesce .■• 

RAVENSBANE 

I will be silent. 

{Enter Minister Dodge, accompanied by Sir Charles Red- 
DiNGTON, Captain Bugby, the Rev. Masters Rand and 
Todd, and followed by Justice Merton, Richard, Mis- 
tress Merton, and Rachel. Richard and Rachel stand 
somewhat apart^ Rachel drawing close to Richard and 
hiding her face. All wear their outer wraps, and two 
or three hold lanterns, which, save the moon, throw the 
only light upon the scene. All enter solemn and silent.'\ 

MINISTER DODGE 

Lord, be Thou present with us, in this unholy spot. 

SEVERAL MEN'S VOICES 

Amen. 

DICKON 



Friends! Have you seized her? Is she made 

MINISTER DODGE 



prisoner .'' 



Stand from us. 



THE SCARECROW 1 69 

DICKON 
Sir, the witch ! Surely you did not let her escape ? 

ALL 

The witch ! 

DICKON 

A dame in a peaked hood. She has but now fled 
the house. She called herself — Goody Rickby. 

ALL 

Goody Rickby ! 

MISTRESS MERTON 

She here ! 

DICKON 

Yea, mistress, and hath confessed all the damnable 
art, by which all of us have lately been so terrorized, 
and his lordship, my poor master, so maligned and 
victimized. 

RICHARD 

Victimized ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

What confessed she } 

MINISTER DODGE 

What said she ? 

DICKON 

This : It appeareth that, for some time past, she 
hath cherished revengeful thoughts against our hon- 
oured host, Justice Merton. 



I/O THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 
Sir ! What cause — what cause — 

DICKON 

Inasmuch as your worship hath ever so right- 
eously condemned her damnable faults, and threat- 
ened them punishment. 

MINISTER DODGE 

Yea — well ? 

DICKON 

Thus, in revenge, she bewitched yonder mirror, 
and this very morning unlawfully inveigled this sweet 
young lady into purchasing it. 

SIR CHARLES 

Mistress Rachel! 

MINISTER DODGE 
\To Rachel.~\ 
Didst thou purchase that glass ? 

RACHEL 

[/« a low voice.'] 
Yes. 

MINISTER DODGE 

From Goody Rickby } 

RACHEL 

Yes. 

RICHARD 
Sir — the blame was mine. 



O Richard ! 



THE SCARECROW 171 

RACHEL 
[ Clinging to kim.'] 

DICKON 



Pardon, my friends. The fault rests upon no one 
here. The witch alone is to blame. Her black art 
inveigled this innocent maid into purchasing the 
glass ; her black art bewitched this room and all that 
it contained — even to these innocent virginals, on 
which I played. 

MINISTER DODGE 

Verily, this would seem to account — but the image ; 
the damnable image in the glass .-' 

DICKON 

A familiar devil of hers — a sly imp, it seems, who 
wears to mortal eyes the shape of a scarecrow. 
'Twas he, by means of whom she bedevilled this 
glass, by making it his Jiabitat. When, therefore, 
she learned that honour and happiness were yours. 
Justice Merton, in the prospect of Lord Ravensbane 
as your nephew-in-law, she commanded this devil to 
reveal himself in the glass as my lord's own image, 
that thus she might wreck your family felicity. 

MINISTER DODGE 
Infamous! 

DICKON 

Indeed, sir, it was this very devil whom but now 
she stole here to consult withal, when she encoun- 



1/2 



THE SCARECROW 



tered me, attendant here upon my poor prostrate 
lord, and — held by the wrath in my eye — con- 
fessed it all. 

SIR CHARLES 

Thunder and brimstone ! Where is this accursed 
hag? 

DICKON 

Alas — gone, gone ! If you had but stopped her. 

MINISTER DODGE 

I know her den — the blacksmith shop. 



Which way } 
To the left. 
Go on, there. 



SIR CHARLES 
\Stariing?^ 

MINISTER DODGE 

SIR CHARLES 

MINISTER DODGE 



My honoured friend, we shall return and officially 
destroy this fatal glass. But first, we must secure 
the witch. Heaven shield, with her guilt, the inno- 



cent! 


THE MEN 


Amen. 


\As they hurry out.'] 




SIR CHARLES 




[ Outside.'] 



Go on ! 

[^Exeunt all but Richard, Rachel, Justice Merton, Mistress 
Merton, Dickon, and Ravensbane.] 



THE SCARECROW 1 73 

DICKON 
\To Justice Merton, who has importuned him , aside. '\ 
And reveal thy youthful escapades to Rachel ? 

JUSTICE MERTON 

God help me ! no. 

DICKON 

So then, dear friends, this strange incident is 
happily elucidated. The pain and contumely have 
fallen most heavily upon my dear lord and master, 
but you are witnesses, even now, of his silent and 
Christian forgiveness of your suspicions. Bygones, 
therefore, be bygones. The future brightens — with 
orange-blossoms ! Hymen and Felicity stand with 
us here ready to unite two amorous and bashful 
lovers. His lordship is reticent ; yet to you alone, 
of all beautiful ladies. Mistress Rachel — 

RAVENSBANE 

\_In a mighty voice."] 
Silence ! 

DICKON 
My lord would — 

RAVENSBANE 

Silence ! Dare not to speak to her ! 

DICKON 
\_Biting his lip.] 
My babe is weaned. 



174 THE SCARECROW 

RACHEL 
\_StiU at Richard's sideJ] 
Oh, my lord, if I have made you suffer — 

RICHARD 

\_AppeaH7igly.~\ 
Rachel ! 

RAVENSBANE 
\_Approaching her, raises one arm to screen his /ace.'\ 

Gracious lady ! let fall your eyes ; look not upon 
me. If I have dared remain in your presence, if I 
dare now speak once more to you, 'tis because I 
would have you know — O forgive me ! — that I love 
you. 

RICHARD 

Sir ! This lady has renewed her promise to be my 
wife. 

RAVENSBANE 

Your wife, or not, I love her. 

RICHARD 

Zounds ! 

RAVENSBANE 

Forbear, and hear me ! For one wonderful day I 
have gazed upon this, your world. The sun has 
kindled me and the moon has blessed me. A million 
forms — of trees, of stones, of stars, of men, of com- 
mon things — have swum like motes before my eyes ; 
but one alone was wholly beautiful. That form was 
Rachel : to her alone I was not ludicrous ; to her I 



THE SCARECROW 1 75 

also was beautiful. Therefore, I love her. You talk 
to me of mothers, mistresses, lovers, and wives and 
sisters, and you say men love these. What is love ? 
The sun's enkindling and the moon's quiescence ; 
the night and day of the world — the all of life, the 
all which must include both you and me and God, of 
whom you dream. Well then, I love you, Rachel. 
What shall prevent me ? Mistress, mother, wife — 
thou art all to me ! 

RICHARD 

My lord, I can only reply for Mistress Rachel, 

that you speak like one who does not understand this 

world. 

RAVENSBANE 

O God! Sir, and do you.? If so, tell me — tell 
me before it be too late — why, in this world, such 
a thing as / can love and talk of love. Why, in this 
world, a true man and woman, like you and your 
betrothed, can look upon this counterfeit and be 
deceived. 

RACHEL AND RICHARD 

Counterfeit ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Me — on me — the ignominy of the earth, the 
laughing-stock of the angels ! 

RACHEL 
Why, my lord. Are you not — 

RAVENSBANE 

No. 



1/6 THE SCARECROW 

JUSTICE MERTON 
\To Ravensbane^ 
Forbear ! Not to her — 

DICKON 

My lord forgets. 

RACHEL 

Are you not Lord Ravensbane ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Marquis of Oxford, Baron of Wittenberg, Elector 
of Worms, and Count of Cordova ? No, I am not 
Lord Ravensbane. I am Lord Scarecrow! 

\He bursts into laughter^ 
RACHEL 

\_Shrinking backJ] 
Ah me! 

RAVENSBANE 

A nobleman of husks, bewitched from a pumpkin. 

RACHEL 

The image in the glass was true ? 

RAVENSBANE 

Yes, true. It is the glass of truth — thank God! 
Thank God for you, dear. 

JUSTICE MERTON 

Richard ! Go for the minister ; this proof of 
witchcraft needs be known. 

[Richard does not moveJ] 



THE SCARECROW 1/7 

DICKON 
My lord, this grotesque absurdity must end. 

RAVENSBANE 

True, Dickon ! This grotesque absurdity must 
end. The laugher and the laughing-stock, man and 
the worm, possess at least one dignity in common: 
both must die. 

DICKON 

\Speaking low.'\ 
Remember ! if you dare — Rachel shall suffer for it. 

RAVENSBANE 

You lie. She is above your power. 

DICKON 

Still, thou darest not — 

RAVENSBANE 

Fool, I dare. 

\_Tzirnhig to Rachel^ 

Mistress, this pipe is I. This intermittent smoke 
holds, in its nebula, Venus, Mars, the world. If I 
should break it — Chaos and the dark ! And this of 
me that now stands up will sink jumbled upon the 
floor — a scarecrow. See ! I break it. 

\_He breaks the pipe in his hands, and flings the pieces 
at-vDickon's feet in defiance ; then turns, agonized, to 
RacheL'\ 

Oh, Rachel, could I have been a man — ! 



178 THE SCARECROW 

DICKON 
\Picking up the pieces of pipe, turns to Rachel7\ 

Mademoiselle, I felicitate you ; you have outwitted 
the devil. 

\_Kissing his fingers to her, he disappears.'] 

MISTRESS MERTON 

\_Seizing the Justice'' s arm in fright^ 
Satan ! 

JUSTICE MERTON 

[ Whispers.'] 
Gone! 

RACHEL 

Richard ! Richard ! support him. 

RICHARD 
\_Sustaining Ravensbane, who sways.] 
He is fainting. A chair ! 

RACHEL 

\_Placing a chair, helps Richard to siipport Ravensbane 
toward it.] 

How pale ; but yet no change. 

RICHARD 

His heart, perhaps. 

RACHEL 

Oh, Dick, if it should be some strange mistake ! 
Look ! he is noble still. My lord ! my lord ! the 
glass — 



THE SCARECROW 1 79 

\She draws the curtain of the mirror, Just opposite which 
Ravensbane has sunk into the chair. At her cry, he 
starts up faintly and gazes at his reflection, which is 
seen to be a normal image of himself. '\ 

RAVENSBANE 

Who is it ? 

RACHEL 

Yourself, my lord — 'tis the glass of truth. 

RAVENSBANE 

\_His face lighting with an exalted Joy, starts to his feet, erect, 
before the glass ^ 
A man ! 

\He falls back into the arms of the two lovers."] 

Rachel ! 

\_Ile dies.] 

RACHEL 

Richard, I am afraid. Was it a chimera, or a 
hero ? 



Finis 



"THE MOST NOTABLE ADDITION MADE TO AMERICAN 
DRAMATIC LITERATURE IN MANY YEARS." 

Mf. PERCY MACKAYE'S new drama 



Sappho and Phaon 



Cloth, iznio, $ I.2J net; 



by mail, $1.3$ 

" Mr. MacKaye's work is the most notable addition that has been 
made for many years to American dramatic literature. It is true 
poetic tragedy . . . charged with happy inspiration ; dignified, 
eloquent, passionate, imaginative, and thoroughly human in its 
emotions . . . and whether considered in the light of literature 
or drama need not fear comparison with anything that has been 
written by Stephen Phillips or John Davidson . . . masterfully 
written with deep pathos and unmistakable poetic power." — 
New York Evening Post. 

The critic of the Boston Transcript says : " Mr. MacKaye has 
planned his scheme with both the exactitude of the stage director 
and the imagination of the poet. . . . We remember no drama by 
any modern writer that at once seems so readable and so actable, 
and no play that is so excellent in stage technique, so clear in 
characterization, and so completely filled with the atmosphere of 
romance and poetry." 

". . . The force and vigor, and beautiful imagery, of Mr. 
MacKaye's happy experiment in classic form are evident. It is 
finer and stronger, better knit, than his ' Jeanne d'Arc,' which 
Sothern and Marlowe have found an acceptable addition to their 
repertory. . . . This play is high-water mark in American 
dramatic verse." — Boston Advertiser. 

" Mr. MacKaye's verse is varied, virile, and essentially dramatic, 
with here and there bits which stand out with rare beauty." — 
New York Dramatic Mirror. 

" It has beauty of spirit, grace and distinction of style, and power 
enough to commend it to a friendly reading by lovers of dramatic 
writing." — Daily Eagle. 

" Many are awakening to the somewhat incredulous but curiously 
persistent feeling that in ' Sappho and Phaon ' Mr. MacKaye has 
achieved a tour de force which will be read with admiration for 
some time to come." — The World To-Day. 

" Interesting for the dramatic beauty of some of its passages, for 
the originality of its conception, and as a curiosity of playwriting. 
. . . The tragic conception, the shipwreck of the ideal in its 
passionate self-emancipation from reality, is Greek to the core." — 
Churchman. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS, 64-66 FIFTH AVENITE, NEW YORK 



OTHER POETICAL DRAMAS BY 

Mr. PERCY MACKAYE 



Jeanne d^Arc 



"A series of scenes animated at times by a sure, direct, and 
simple poetry, again by the militant fire, and finally by the bitter 
pathos of the most moving, perhaps the most beautiful, and cer- 
tainly the most inexplicable story in profane history." — Phila- 
delphia Ledger. 

"A singularly fresh, buoyant treatment of an old subject, Mr. 
Mackaye's ' Jeanne d'Arc ' contains less pageantry and more spirit- 
uality than any of the plays about the Maid since Schiller." — 
Record-Herald, Chicago. 

Fenris the Wolf 

"A drama that shows triple greatness. There is the supreme 
beauty of poetry, the perfect sense of dramatic proportion, and 
nobility of purpose. It is a work to dream over, to make one see 
glorious pictures, — a work to uplift to soul heights through its 
marvellously wrought sense appeal." — Examiner. 

The Canterbury Pilgrims 

" This is a comedy in four acts, — a comedy in the higher and 
better meaning of the term. It is an original conception worked 
out with a rare degree of freshness and buoyancy, and it may hon- 
estly be called a play of unusual interest and unusual literary 
merit. . . . The drama might well be called a character portrait 
of Chaucer, for it shows him forth with keen discernment, a capti- 
vating figure among men, an intensely human, vigorous, kindly 
man. ... It is a moving, vigorous play in action. Things go 
rapidly and happily, and, while there are many passages of real 
poetry, the book is essentially a drama." — St. Paul Dispatch. 

Each, cloth, gilt top, decorated cover, $1.25 net. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PTIBLISHEKS, 64-66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YOEK 



RECENT VOLUMES OF POETRY 



By STEPHEN PHILLIPS (dramatic verse) 

Nero Cloth, i2mo, S 1.23 tiet 

The Sin of David ciotk, 12,110, $ 1.2s net 

Ulysses Cloth, i2mo, $i.2j net 

Faust In press 

" Mr. Stephen Phillips is one of not more than three or four living 
poets of whom the student of English literature finds himself com- 
pelled, in the interest of his study, to take account." — Mont- 
gomery Schuyler, in The New York Times. 

By WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS 

Lyrical and Dramatic Poems in two volumes 

Cloth, decorated covers, each volume S i-7S ^^^ 

The first volume contains his lyrics up to the present time; the 
second includes all of his five dramas in verse : The Countess 
Cathleen; The Land of Heart's Desire; The King's Threshold; 
On Baile's .Strand; and The Shadowy Waters, 

" Mr. Yeats is probably the most important as well as the most 
widely known of the men concerned directly in the so-called Celtic 
renaissance. More than this, he stands among the few men to be 
reckoned with in modern poetry." — New York Herald. 

The Unicorn from the Stars (/« Press') 

By SARA KING WILEY (dramatic and lyric) 

The Coming of Philibert cioth, s 1.23 net 

Poems, Lyrical and Dramatic cioth, $ 1.50 net 
Alcestis: and Other Poems cioth, 75 ce^tts net 

" Fundamentally lyrical in free play of imagination, frankness 
of creation, passionate devotion, and exaltation of sacrifice." — 
The Outlook. 



Mr. ALFRED NOYES'S 

THREE VOLUMES OF POETRY 

"OCITIS Cloth, decorated cover, S f.2^ net 

Mr. Richard Le Gallienne in the North American Review pointed 
out recently '* their spontaneous power and freshness, their 
imaginative vision, their lyrical magic." . He adds : " Mr. Noyes 
is surprisingly various. I have seldom read one book, particularly 
by so young a writer, in which so many different things are done, 
and all done so well. . . . But that for which one is most grateful 
to Mr. Noyes in his strong and brilliant treatment of all his rich 
material, is the gift by which, in my opinion, he stands alone 
among the younger poets of the day, his lyrical gift." 

The Flower of Old Japan 

and The Forest of Wild Thyme 

In one volume, decorated cloth, $1.2^ net 

"The little ones will love the songs at first for the pure music of 
their rhythm, later because of the deep embodied truths rather 
divined than comprehended. . . . Mr. Noyes is first of all a singer, 
then something of a seer with great love and high hopes and 
aims to balance this rare combination. Of course ultramaterialists 
will pull his latest book to pieces, from the frank preface to the 
dedication which follows the last chapter. But readers of more 
gentle fibre will find it not only full of rich imagery and refresh- 
ing interest, but also a wonderful passport to the dear child land 
Stevenson made so real and telling, and which most of us, having 
left it far behind, would so gladlv regain." — Chicago Record- 
Herald 

The Golden Hynde 

AND OTHER POEMS 

The new volume contains a considerable amount of hitherto 
unpublished work, besides some poems which have been published 
only in magazines and are practically unknown to American 
readers. The book bears out the verdict of the Post : — 

" It has seemed to us from the first that Noyes has been one of 
the most hope-inspiring figures in our latter-day poetry. He, 
almost alone of the younger men, seems to have the true singing 
voice, the gift of uttering in authentic lyric cry some fresh, 
unspoiled emotion." 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS, 64-66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



LRBMr'26 4 76 I 









*•;<»'' .^"^ 



" .f.^'"-. ^'^^/ .^^"^-.."-* 



Ci^ *. 












.^'% 



3 0^ '^^- -'^ 






^Ao^ 



K^^°^ 
























.^^'V -. 












,0, 



























